Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble
by Gaming Ikari
Summary: Ranma foolishly uses the Nanban mirror in an attempt to stop the failed wedding, and kicks off a trip through time with far-reaching consequences. Sailor Moon crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

Chapter 1

oOo

Enough was enough, the pigtailed boy decided. There were WAAAY too many problems in his life. And they all stemmed from that one event. The spectacularly explosive failure of a wedding his idiotic father and equally-idiotic father-in-law-to-be had planned.

It was just soo... stupid! Why would they possibly try a wedding? He was still in high-school and so was Akane! It was just pointless! Not to mention that the various fiancées, their various suitors, and all the other random crap running around Nerima were still very much active. It was like trying to kill a cockroach in a TNT shed with a flamethrower and then being surprised at the boom.

Sitting on the roof of the Tendou dojo, Ranma wished it had never happened. Wished the whole damned fiasco had been averted somehow. Illumination came not in a flash of light, but the flitting of a pervert over the property wall.

Ranma grinned: The Nanban Mirror! A surge of excitement translated thought to action, propelling the blue-eyed youth over the edge of the roof and into Happosai's room. With the old pervert out, it was a snap to grab the cracked mirror from it's resting place in his dwelling, leaving Ranma to escape to small area behind the dojo itself with an onion.

He could fix everything. Ranma grinned at his brilliance as he rubbed the onion in his eye, allowing the teardrop to fall from the corner of one cheek and land with a splash on the cracked reflection staring back up at him.

It wasn't until time and space began to warp around him that Ranma had second thoughts about the plan. It wasn't until he remembered all the trouble he and his father had had getting back home last time that he realized that the "plan" wasn't a plan at all but really was just another impetuous, foolish decision in a long string of many.

Then, staring up at the Earth, he knew he really needed to give that whole "stop and think" thing a real shot. He assumed he was on the Moon, based on the gray craters which extended as far as the eye could see. He dropped the onion with a dull thump, only realizing then that based on the fact he was standing in the middle of a well-tended garden, breathing, he was truly somewhere beyond weird.

"Oh crap," Ranma groaned, knowing that the words were vastly inadequate... and now wishing simply that his stupid brain had kept it's thoughts to itself.

oOo

Princess Serenity knew that to describe her mood as "agitated" would be a bit of a fib. She was downright furious. Her mother's rapidly waning health meant that the pressure to lead fell to her more and more often. That, combined with the dubious attention of various suitors, meant she had little time to spend with the few friends she had among the other nobility. She was only sixteen! It just wasn't fair!

She fumed as she paced through the gardens, beginning to list the litany of problems as she headed for the Cverlook, a spectacular view of the untouched lunar surface. There were youma problems, all of which were supposedly linked to the Earth and Beryl, but the links weren't yet proven... leaving the red-haired princess to smirk behind her sleeves. Then there were the rumors of border troubles out beyond the reaches of Pluto. Then there was the grumblings of the citizens about the first and second problems.

She huffed as she noticed the boy staring out blankly over HER Overlook. Great, just what she needed. On top of all her other problems, now some common citizen, judging by his clothes and hair, had managed to sneak into one of the most secure sections of the palace. Her anger boiled right over the curiosity of the cracked mirror in his hand and the onion at his feet.

The princess snapped open the personal communicator a second after manifesting it, hitting one of the buttons on it and waiting with growing impatience. She spoke before the man on the other end had time to articulate a greeting.

"I would love an explanation about why one of the supposedly clear sectors of the palace has some yokel running around in it," the princess said icily, ignoring the sputtering man on the other end. "I don't care what excuse you think is good enough, just get a security detail to the Outlook immediately."

The angry princess then stomped across the grass with a determined growl, pushing her long, unbound hair back over her shoulders. Her anger faded to momentary shock as the boy turned with a growl, his body glowing with a bright blue aura as he lunged at her. He'd covered half the distance of his lunge before she thought to coil her legs and leap.

Three quarters of the way through his lunge, as she leveled her scepter at him from above and gathered enough mana to vaporize him and a good chunk of the ground behind him, she noticed that his focus hadn't followed her up, but instead remained on where she'd been.

No, not on where she'd been.

On the shadow youma which had been sneaking up on her. The surprise of the monarch-to-be only increased when the creature was dispatched with one blow of the plainly-clad youth's fist. As she landed from her leap, she noted that his surprise matched her own. And he really did have the most amazing blue eyes.

oOo

Ranma blinked. Then blinked again. He tried it a third time. Yet no matter how much he blinked, it didn't change the fact his foe had just poofed into a spray of golden powder with a single attack. It didn't even make sense! He hadn't hit the thing that hard... on a scale of one to even-P-chan-would-feel-it he'd have only put the strike at a four or five at best.

Then he forgot all about it as a girl dropped down right in front of him, landing with a poise which went beyond merely graceful. He'd know, after all. He'd fought in a gown and high heels before, and even he'd been hard-pressed to do so successfully. This girl managed to make it look like the most natural thing in the world.

Though that was the only natural-looking thing about her. For one thing, the white dress she wore seemed ethereal, as if it didn't belong in this world. It was really long, yet somehow it had managed to stay perfectly positioned throughout a standing vertical leap. The staff held in one deceptively slender hand also pulsed in Ranma's senses in a way that only a couple of magical items he'd ever seen had in the past. Then there was the hair. Impossible long, it was also the brightest silver he'd ever seen, bordering on platinum, and fell in place behind her without seeming to tangle in the least.

Then there was the golden moon glowing on her forehead. That rated right up there on Ranma's list of things that he was finding unnatural about this chick.

It was about the time that Ranma realized he still held his battle aura coursing over his skin that a dozen men and women with armor and swords, also pulsing with magical energy, arrived in a rush. They didn't look happy.

Ranma looked across to where the girl he'd just saved still held her magic in thrall. Normally not a quick thinker, Ranma's survival instincts screamed for him to move and he listened. Razor sharp beams of projected energy followed Ranma as he backflipped away from his attackers, seeking to put some distance between himself and his new foes. He landed, springing back once more.

"Hey, wait a minute! You're making a mistaaaaUUGH!" Ranma, normally not the most eloquent of individuals, found what little coherency he possessed abandoning him as his second round of dodging carried him over the edge of the cliff. His last vision before he turned his gaze to the approaching ground was worried silver eyes framed by silver hair watching him fall below the grassy edge.

oOo

Princess Serenity didn't bother to stifle her groan as she watched her savior fall. No doubt he'd survive the fall. Anyone capable of taking out a shadow youma in one shot certainly should have the endurance to survive a short fall like that. No, her worry was finding the boy again.

He'd intrigued her. He'd intrigued her very much.

"Princess Serenity? Did the intruder injure you?"

Serenity turned to face the squad leader of the security detail, fighting down her momentary anger at the interruption. Whatever might have rapidly developed, she'd reported an intruder on the grounds. This team of dedicated men and women had arrived in response to that report to find both her and the intruder facing one another in combat stances and their Princess primed with magical energy.

Their response was only natural.

"It's not what it appears, Captain," Serenity finally said, willing her scepter to fade. She walked to the edge of the cliff, but could see no sign of the young man. She pointed down. "Find that young man at all costs and bring him to me. He's to be treated as an honoured guest."

"Princess?" The captain asked, confused.

"He saved my life in the two minutes between my call and your arrival," Serenity explained with a shrug. She turned and walked away from the edge. "The least I can do is apologize for my people sending him over a cliff."

The captain froze, then wisely decided that there was nothing he could say in response.

oOo

Ranma closed his eyes as the ground rapidly approached. This was going to suck. He flinched, instinctly tucking his body to perhaps roll with the massive crunch. After a second or two, when he realized he wasn't in massive pain, he dared to open his eyes.

He was standing in a busy marketplace. Still on the Moon, if the Earth hanging high in the sky was any indication... but no longer falling and no longer being pursued. He raised the Nanban mirror, still held in one hand, to gaze at it in wonder.

Someone then tackled the pigtailed young man from behind, and Ranma could only watch in mute horror was the mirror slipped from his hands, tumbling through the air. He reached out as if the act could call the object back.

Instead, his only way home landed face down on the cobblestones and shattered.

oOo

Author's Notes:

Okay, perhaps a bit of a quick explanation here. Yes, I've currently got not one, not two, but _three _stories currently on the go... and here I am starting a fourth. I suppose to ask "What the heck are you thinking?" is a polite way of phrasing things.

Problem was, whenever I got a new idea I'd write out an outline so I could get back to it at some point and then try to turn my focus back to LH&R A Duet of Fists, or An Unforeseen Consequence. What it meant was I'd finish the outline, then stare at the open file for one of those three stories (sometimes all three!) and not get any writing done whatsoever.

At this point, two of my three stories have been inactive for months now, which has not done wonders for my output and the other is not in much better shape. I figure a new story is better than no story, for now.

So you get a Sailor Moon crossover. Funnily enough, I've never actually read much Sailor Moon. The extent of my watching it heralds back to the old YTV dubs they showed back before it was cool to do things like pay attention to the original story or character names. However strangely enough, some of the most enjoyable Ranma fanfiction I've read have been crosses with the series, so I thought I'd give one a go. We'll see how that part works out.

As you can obviously tell, I also decided to make this a time traveling story. Now, rather than worry about the paradoxes I'm going to be creating, I did my best to iron out the "Temporal Laws" for Ranma and Setsuna and did my best to work within those constraints. While I'm sure the most astute readers out there will no-doubt find a minor inconsistency or two, I should be able to avoid making any terribly blatant plot holes. Though for those wondering, no, I'm not chucking aside the rest of the Nerima cast for the SM cast. Everybody has their place in this tale.

-Gaming Ikari


	2. Chapter 2

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

Chapter 2

oOo

Broken.

The Nanban mirror was broken. Ranma couldn't help but numbly go over that fact over and over. His way home was gone. Kaput. He hardly noticed as shapely legs parted slightly to allow him to be flipped onto his back, staring up at a beautiful woman a few years old than him with cinnamon-coloured skin, lush green hair, enraged red eyes, and wearing Happosai's idea of a school uniform.

He started paying attention when a roiling ball of magical energy appeared in his attacker's palm, aimed directly at his face. Especially since those legs of hers, however nice, had his arms completely pinned to his sides.

What an amateur.

"Great, another crazy magic chick," Ranma muttered to himself, cutting the woman off as she began to speak. He slammed the tops of his thighs into the middle of her back, arching it and spoiling her aim for a brief second. In the time it took her to correct it, the pigtailed boy had planted his feet beneath coiled legs and bucked his body, unpinning himself and sending the red-eyed beauty sprawling on her face with a squawk of outrage, her ball of energy dissipating harmlessly.

Before his feet touched the ground again, he'd planted both hands and sprung over the sprawled woman, leaving her to spin onto her back and blast the empty patch of ground where he'd been laying pinned. Ranma ignored her, gazing down with growing dread at the shattered Nanban mirror.

"Are you done yet?" Ranma growled, pointing at the woman who'd shattered his only possession. The woman turned to look at him in confusion.

oOo

Setsuna knew she was new to her post, but she was still flabbergasted by the amount of disrespect she was being shown. She was the Princess of Pluto, the Guardian of Time, and one of the eight elite Defenders of Her Majesty, Queen Serenity. And here she was fulfilling the duties involved with the second of her three titles and she was the one being treated like the intruder.

The green-maned woman then realized she was staring at up man behind the temporal distortion from the ground and hastily got to her feet, straightening her hair and fuku as she did so.

"I most certainly am not," she replied, trying her best to meet that heated gaze with frost. She was surprised by the lack of a flinch from the pigtailed boy. She pointed one finger at him. "You used a Class-B Temporal Artifact to gain access to the Moon, blowing through dozens of wards and bypassing .just as many security checks. That makes you MY problem."

"Well, if you hadn't smashed my _Class-B Tempura Whatever_," the last, the rude blue-eyed bastard said in a high, mocking falsetto, "I would have found out I was in the wrong place in a second or two and just gone home. You think I like being here? At least the other chick waited a second or two before she attacked. And she had a better sense of fashion, too."

"You know, we can resolve this issue quickly and painlessly if you just come with me quietly," Pluto murmured to the boy, red eyes locking on blue. The boy merely snorted in response, knees bending in anticipation as an arrogant smile dawned on his face. The newly-appointed Guardian of Time merely waited for the boy to make a move.

As he crouched low to spring, her patience was rewarded as the security detail she'd ordered took up flanking positions around the pair, pointing magical swords directly at their target.

The cocky grin the boy wore froze.

"Quickly and painlessly, then?" Setsuna asked with a wry grin, to which the younger man just nodded in defeat. The princess nodded to the guards, who quickly moved in to secure the boy. The Guardian of Time was surprised at the report that the boy carried no weapons at all, but decided it wasn't worth the effort of worrying about.

Her attention turned to the shattered artifact at her feet. Kneeling she carefully picked up one of the fragments, surprised to find that the artifact was a simple mirror. Focusing, the green-haired senshi conjured a small container and she quickly began to fill it with the shattered bits of the boy's time travel device..

When she was finally satisfied that only minuscule fragments remained, she stood and lead the prisoner to the palace.

oOo

Ranma couldn't help but gaze in wonder at his surroundings, despite being under arrest. While the guards surrounding him were certainly keeping their attention focused on him, Ranma's attention wandered from one technological or magical wonder to the next. Here there was a flying vehicle of some sort... Almost like a car, but a lot more elegant. There, a building with spire-topped towers floated above a pond supported by nothing at all, discs of crystal floating from a pad to an entrance.

But it was all so odd. Some parts of the city they walked through almost ancient, like some of the older sections of Shang Hai. It didn't make much sense at all.

Speaking of not making sense...

"Hey, lady! If you're fast enough to jump me a second or two after I appeared here, why are we taking the long way instead of just magicking us back?" Ranma demanded, crossing his arms as he continued to follow the older woman. The guards around him turned their heads to gaze at him in disbelief, though he ignored it.

"Is it ignorance or obstinacy which fuels your question?" Pluto replied as she paused, turning and flashing Ranma a cool smirk. She turned back and continued to walk. "I'll assume it's just ignorance. A Class-B Temporal Artifact doesn't really require anything in the way of magical knowledge for use. Probably something simple and mundane for the trigger, am I right?"

"You mean the Nanban mirror?" Ranma queried thoughtfully, dropping his arms to his side with a shrug. "All that thing takes to work is a tear drop on the surface. But it's been acting funny. It didn't take me where I wanted to go in the first place, and then it brought me here a little while ago without being activated at all."

"Interesting," The green haired woman murmured, turning a thoughtful gaze back towards him as they walked. She again focused on the path ahead of them. "In answer to your question, the reason we cannot teleport in to the palace is simple: The wards are monodirectional."

"Mona-what?"

"Monodirectional," she repeated with a put-upon sigh. She shook her head. "Look, if it makes it easier, think of the wards like a very strong wind, blowing outward from the palace. Attempting to teleport away from the palace is like sailing with the wind. It's actually easier than teleporting from one point to another with no wards at all..."

"-and teleporting into the place would be like trying to sail directly into the wind. Messy and probably not a lot of fun for whoever tried to do it," Ranma finished for her. He then laced his fingers at the back of his neck and looked overhead, where another one of those flying cars was passing by. "If that's the case, why not summon one of these flying things? This palace you're taking me to is bound to have a few."

The woman stopped so suddenly the pigtailed boy had to windmill his arms and lurch on to his tiptoes to keep from bumping her suddenly still form. She simply paused for a moment.

"You forgot, didn't you!" Ranma accused with a low chuckle, stepping to the side so he could lean over and peer up at her face. The blank, wide-eyed look confirmed it for him. "The big, bad magic chick totally forgot she didn't have to walk, all because of me. Huh, I guess I'm a pretty big distraction, then."

"If I were you, I don't know if I'd be talking like that to the one who gets to decide your fate," the irate woman bit off, stalking off a couple steps as a device materialized in her hands. Ranma gulped. Within moments, they were filing into a large, crystalline carriage of some sort.

oOo

Pluto couldn't believe she'd forgotten.

Every time she shot a glare at the impudent little wretch, he did his best to present a flat face to her, but she could feel his grin every time she turned her head to look out the window. The guards, though much better trained, would no doubt have a good laugh about the newly appointed Guardian of Time's fumble when they were off duty.

All because she was distracted by the artifact, destroyed and yet still imbued with power, which lay in her lap. The most confusing thing about the artifact was not that it was capable of traveling through time, a feat she normally would have ascribed to the locked Gates of Time... but the fact that it held a potent amount of magic which felt much like Queen Serenity's own enchantments and yet was somehow different at the same time.

Magic that was directly keyed to the boy stifling a chuckle behind her. The paradox of that was enough to distract anyone, in her opinion.

Not only that but with her own talents at temporal manipulation, it was very easy to see just why the artifact wasn't functioning the way it was supposed to be functioning. For whatever reason, the thing had been keyed to go to a specific point in the past if he ever tried to use it... and even now it was set to take him on a long journey, across time itself, the next time it reached his hands... though where and when even Pluto could not see.

Until then, it would remain inert. Unless, perhaps, the item were not returned to him when it was supposed to be returned. Might it take action then? The energy now lying dormant in the the artifact was certainly powerful enough to shred all but the strongest wards if necessary. And given that eerie similarity to Queen Serenity's magic, Setsuna wasn't even sure the palace wards would resist.

It was troubling, to say the least. She keyed on her communicator, typing a rarely-dialed key. She was only one of seventeen people in existence who knew it, and her personal communicator was one of the nine which had unfiltered access to it. After a moment, her Queen's face came on to the screen.

"What's the emergency?" Serenity asked, impatience biting at the edge of her tones. She paused, her vision going downward. "The Princess is being rather demanding at the moment."

"I normally wouldn't interrupt, but we've got a major problem, my Queen," Setsuna stated, picking up a shard of the mirror. She held it up, allowing the communicator's visual pickups to take it in. "Would you believe that this came from a magical item the size of an ordinary hand mirror-"

"And?"

"-and which is capable of taking the user throughout time with the same power as the Gates of Time?" Taking some small satisfaction in causing the normally imperturbable monarch's composure to slip, Setsuna pressed on. "One which can go through our wards like an orbital cannon through rice paper and which, if my suspicions are correct, carries a heavy charge of your daughter's magic?"

For a long time, Serenity met Pluto's gaze, digesting the facts with which she'd been presented.

"I'll get your craft clearance for landing pad nearest to the royal apartments. Come directly to me with the item and whatever information you have."

oOo

Queen Serenity bundled her newborn daughter in blankets, laying her gently to rest in her crib as the proximity alarm chimed, announcing the landing of Pluto's craft. She knew that whatever was coming was big. In theory, nothing short of the Gates of Time should have been powerful enough to allow time travel.

She turned as the door opened, though her vision was drawn not to Setsuna, but the boy at her side. This was a youth she'd recognize anywhere. His own eyes widened at the sight of her, and it pleased her that he'd obviously remembered her as well.

"Holy crap, how'd you get old?"

For the second time in moments, the monarch's jaw dropped as she and her savior from thirty years ago met once more. And the damnable thing was he hadn't aged a day, so her traitorous brain idly noted to her feminine outrage that it was, perhaps, a fair question.

oOo

Author's Notes:

All aboard the exposition train! Choo-choo! Sorry, sorry... boring chapter, I know. I originally intended for it to be longer, but that was too perfect an endpoint not to use.

I've pretty much hammered out the outline for this one. I've got a couple of truly evil plot twists on the far horizon, though one of them is going to make for a particularly long, difficult to write chapter. From a certain perspective, you all might think I'm a true bastard, truth be told. Divulging anything further, however, would be telling.

The plot calls for a lot of antagonism between Pluto and Ranma, and by golly, is it going to be fun to write depending on which Setsuna he's dealing with. I think I mentioned previously that I wasn't done with the NWC and that there'd be a lot of time travel (between all three time periods: Past, present and future).

-Gaming Ikari


	3. Chapter 3

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

Chapter 3

oOo

"Old?" There was no mistaking the edge in the graceful woman's voice, nor the menace in the one step she took towards the young man in front of her.

Ranma knew he'd made another mistake in a long line of such the instant the word left his mouth. Well, it was entirely fair, he thought. The last time he saw her she was the same age as him. Now, she was at least a few years older than Kasumi. It was hard to pin her age down, he noted idly. Aside from the age thing, he noted that the only change were the weird buns she'd pinned her ponytails into. Just like she had last time, she was wearing the same otherworldly white dress.

"Wait, wait!" The pigtailed boy squawked, knowing he needed to buy time and hurriedly waving his hands in front of his face. "I meant older! Older! I saw you an hour ago and you were my age!"

"It's good that you clarified that," The white-clad woman declared with a sniff.

"He seems to learn pretty quickly for someone who knows almost nothing," Ranma's green-haired captor added with a chuckle, much to the pigtailed boy's annoyance. She glanced at the martial artist briefly. "Though you've never mentioned meeting a time-travelling idiot before, my Queen."

"It was a brief meeting, and I wasn't aware he was running around with an artifact capable of punching through my kingdom's mystical defenses at whim at the time, or I would have spent longer searching harder for him," The silver-haired queen replied, walking close to Ranma and leaning in to inspect him a little more closely. "Amazing. You really haven't changed a single bit. I think I can still smell the onion on you, the one you dropped in my garden all those years ago.

"Unless he's crashed into any vegetable carts since you arrested him, Setsuna?" the woman asked, turning her intense gaze away from Ranma briefly. She chuckled to herself. "No, I thought not. You see, Princess Pluto, this young man was in my garden for less than five minutes. Just enough time for me to notice him, summon a security team, and begin to walk up to him to give him a piece of my mind before the guards hauled him away somewhere dark and dank for a few days for daring to sneak into my presence.

"I got halfway there when he spun and lunged at me. It wasn't until I got out of the way and held back from blasting him into oblivion that I noticed he was going after a shadow youma sneaking up on me. A shadow youma which, I might add, was entirely shielded from mystical senses of any sort. It very easily could have killed me if it weren't for the few minutes this boy was there before the guards drove him off in confusion," The silver-eyed woman took a step back, flashing an enigmatic smile towards Setsuna. "Very fortuitous, wouldn't you say?"

"It does strain coincidence that he would be there right at that moment," the Guardian of Time admitted, tapping her chin idly. She joined the queen in examining Ranma, as if seeing a new piece to some incomplete puzzle. "Not only did he happen to appear at the right moment thanks to an artifact which should be, technically speaking, impossible, he happened to be one of the rare individuals capable of sensing the shadow youma and defeating it."

"And now he's here, where the Guardian of Time can introduce herself to him," Setsuna noted dryly. She locked eyes with the Queen, a small smile forming on her face. "If it weren't for the magical energy contained in the artifact, I'd be suspicious. But as it stands..."

"Yeah, so are you going to explain any of this to me?" Ranma asked curiously. He was pretty sure they weren't, and his ability to follow the conversation had completely dropped off once they'd gone past simply establishing time travel. "Like, now maybe?"

"I'm sorry, my pigtailed savior, but I've got some things to discuss with Lady Pluto before we can come to any decisions about you," Serenity's fingers tapped on her communicator, her gaze not dropping from her guest at all as the device chimed. "Venus, Jupiter, I have a guest in my chambers which I need you to occupy until arrangements can be made for him."

"Him?" The voice on the other end of the device sounded speculative... ominously so, to Ranma.

"He's quite the treat, my dears. You might wish to come up here before Pluto reconsiders her antagonism," Serenity chuckled at the abrupt end to conversation.

"Hey, there's no way you two are getting rid of me that easy!" Ranma snorted, crossing his arms and glaring first at one woman, then the other. "You're both gonna tell me what's going on!"

"You should consider yourself lucky you're being treated as a guest and not a prisoner," the green haired woman to his right chuckled with a smirk. She shrugged helplessly, leaning back against the wall with her hips. "I mean, if you'd really like to be confrontational about this, I'm sure the Queen's guards will happily settle with you. When you wake up, you might even have all your limbs."

"Pluto, there's no need to involve them in this matter," Serenity admonished with a small smile, which she turned on the pigtailed boy. "We're not dismissing you. It's just that there are several points of interest which we need to examine closely before we can make any decisions. I promise, you won't be left in the dark for long."

"Well, in that case..." Ranma muttered, shaking his head helplessly.

"I'm glad you approve," Pluto added smugly, pushing her hips off the wall and walking to stand next to the silver-haired monarch.

The doors burst open and a pair of girls younger than Ranma rushed in, just barely avoiding the appearance of breathlessness. One was tall and fair, wearing a dark green dress full of ruffles which complemented her brown hair. The other was short, wearing an orange dress which somehow managed not to clash with blond hair.

"Your escorts, my friend," Serenity said with a smile.

Ranma noted the identical look both girls shot him and wished, briefly, that the girl he'd saved had chosen to imprison him instead. Something deep in his gut, that primal fight-or-flight instinct which writhed every time he came to a major turning point, it writhed at the sight of the pair.

And the worst part was that he didn't have anywhere to run even if he thought the Saotome Final Attack could be employed.

oOo

"Are you sure that this is wise?" Pluto asked, hesitation filling her voice. Even the act of raising the question was an act of willpower. She gestured to the box she'd lain on the nearby table, containing the shards of the boy's mirror. "I can already guess that you want me to repair that thing and send him on his way. The question is... why?"

Serenity paused, walking over to the box and running her index finger gently along the edge. She turned to the Guardian of Time with a smile.

"Setsuna, if you weren't sure that he was necessary, would you have let him back? Of course not. You may not realize the burden I've placed on you, but I have some idea. He is here because at some point in the future, you allowed him to come back here in the first place," Serenity shrugged, matching Pluto's earlier gesture to the pigtailed interloper almost exactly. "Besides, between the obvious signs of my daughter's magic and his helpful nature, I can't imagine him bringing harm to this kingdom."

"So, he's to be the exception to the rule regarding time travel?" Setsuna asked, tapping her chin with index finger. She gazed at the door from which he'd departed thoughtfully. "It's strange. I honestly can't picture what would possess me to allow someone like that to break the rule. Perhaps he's done something so fantastic in the future that that alone will impress me?"

"The motives behind his visit are giving _us _a headache, and we at least have an inkling of the physics behind temporal travel and the permutations the paradoxes can cause," Serenity giggled, reaching the liquor cabinet and pulling out a bottle of Saturnian ice wine, pouring herself and her friend a generous glass each. "Can you imagine the thoughts going on in his head right now?"

"No doubt he's put it from his mind as being too confusing to contemplate," Setsuna admitted with a dry chuckle, accepting the glass with a dark grin. She gestured with the liqueur to her monarch, deftly avoiding slopping any of the amber liquid over the edge. "Still, I'm a little worried. As you say, temporal mechanics are fickle at best. What if the decision to send him back in time in the first place was based on us giving our permission for him to travel back forward?"

"Thus the paradox," Serenity admitted with a rueful sigh, sipping her own glass and pausing, sighing in appreciation of the sweet, burning sensation on her tongue. She opened her eyes to meet Pluto's. "We can either assume that the choice has been taken from us and go with it, or assume that the onus is on us to decide whether our time-traveling friend can continue on his journey. And being on the early end of the spectrum, we'll never know if our decision is right or not."

"Why did I ever let you get me involved with temporal physics?" Pluto wondered dryly, draining her glass in one tidal gulp. She glared at the silver-haired woman, half serious. "Seriously... did you slip me some of Mercury's fire wine, or was it that I was naive enough to want to serve the kingdom?"

"Probably because of the great honour associated with the title. That and the fact I wouldn't trust anyone else with the sort of power you now wield," Serenity grinned at her friend. "So, what say you, Guardian of Time? Advise me. Is the decision to allow the boy to continue his journey the correct one?"

"Were it not for your daughter's magic, I'd say no," Pluto finally admitted, her eyes wandering to the cradle in the corner of the room. She sighed with a shrug. "With that mixed in... Who's to say? Your daughter may have doomed the kingdom by sending the boy back or saved it. In this, I defer all decisions to those in a position to make such choices."

"Put it all on me, why don't you," Serenity sputtered with a scowl, draining her own glass in response.

"Ah, the joys of leadership," Setsuna chuckled sardonically,.crossing the room to gather Serenity's glass before refilling both with another generous measure of the ice wine. She handed the glass to the older woman before taking a sip of her own. "Though all joking aside... Are you sure you want me to fix this mirror? I can't imagine time travel ending well for anyone. That your daughter would send him back at all might be a dire measure of the circumstances in the future. Circumstances we might just avoid if we hold him here."

Serenity's gaze lingered on the mirror for a long time.

"Do it," the queen finally muttered, draining her second glass in one decisive swig. She grinned at her green-haired senshi. "That poor boy already has the tiger by the tail just using the mirror. It would be a shame not to let him hang on through the journey as long as his will allows him to do so."

"Doesn't that strike you as a little irresponsible?"

"No more than letting him come here in the first place. Assuming my daughter is as wise as I am, just how bad could the decision possibly be?"

oOo

The princesses of Venus and Jupiter observed their queen's guest with more than a little interest. They couldn't help but speculate about the boy as they lead him through the corridors. Setting aside the obvious importance of his being a guest of Queen Serenity, there were to facts which struck the senshi-to-be:

First, he had the strongest life force either girl had ever felt. His presence pulsed on their awareness like a comet in the night sky, difficult to ignore and impossible to deny. He seemed to deny the very precepts of their teachings with his very existence, possessing a negligible magical spark to contrast the supernova of his life energy. He had the ability to fuel the most powerful magic, yet both girls knew that even beside all that power he would be drained attempting spells even novice magicians learned in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Second, he was very, very cute. The old-fashioned close and country-bumpkin attitude combined with his panther-like grace and power to form something... yummy.

"I wonder who he is?" Princess Jupiter pondered quietly, to herself as much as her companion, as they walked the halls of the palace. Their guest was too busy gawking at the sights to pay much attention. "Someone like him.... We would have met or learned of him before now, right?"

"Maybe he's the Sky Prince?" Venus returned, tapping her chin as she focused her gaze on the tight pants in front of her. "After all, he's supposed to be some amazing scholar. That would explain the weird life energy thing this guy has going on."

"Didn't you notice his knuckles? Or the way he walks?" The brunette snorted, crossing her arms. "He's no scholar. Whatever else, this guy knows how to fight. Maybe even better than either one of us can fight, as we are."

"Until Serenity elevates us to being Senshi," Venus agreed, noting the boy's movements for the first time. She could admit that she'd been distracted from noticing the pigtailed warrior's prowess by other, equally.... distracting characteristics. "That still doesn't answer the question."

"It bothers me." Jupiter declared, her eyes narrowing. "Maybe I'm not as suspicious as some of the other senshi candidates, but something about him just doesn't seem right."

"Does it matter?" Venus asked with a smirk, twirling to put herself nose to nose with the taller girl. "He's a total hottie, he's gotta be unattached, and he's got to have some crazy abilities on top of it all with a life force as strong as that. And Serenity-sama asked us to keep him 'occupied'. So ask yourself something, oh princess of Jupiter. Does it matter?"

A scream from within the palace temple cut Jupiter off before she could reply, and both girls noticed right then that their guest had wandered off.

"Apparently it does," Jupiter growled, and both girls ran through the doorway, prepared for anything and everything.

Well, almost.

oOo

Author's Notes:

Two subtle nods to two awesome authors in this chapter. Points to anyone who recognizes those nods to better authors than I. If nobody points it out by time I post the next chapter, I'll probably include them in my next author's notes.

Also... If anyone is a fan of the DBZ Abridged series by Team Four Star, if you recall the scene in episode seven where Nappa and Vegeta arrive on Earth and a certain subtitle appears when Vegeta makes a certain statement, you can apply that same subtitle to the end of the Serenity-Setsuna conversation.

-Gaming Ikari


	4. Chapter 4

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

Chapter 4

oOo

The Princess of Mars was in many ways a study in contrasts.

For all of her belief in the spiritual, she also was a person of incredible mundane magical talent. Her mystical senses were finally tuned both to magical energy and the force of creature's life. For all of her legendary temper and volatile reactions, she was also be an incredibly calm person at times, taking a moment to consider the problem at hand before acting.

However when faced with the aura which entered her temple she couldn't help but react instantly: whatever had crept up behind her on silent footsteps stank of curse magic and was brimming with far too much life energy to be anything but a youma. A youma which was five feet behind her and closing.

She flowed up and spun in one smooth motion, leading with a spinning kick and a loud kiai which should have caught the interloper unaware. Instead, she got an impression of a somewhat surprised young man in a red silk shirt, blue eyes narrowing, before her kick was caught. The young man spun with the momentum and lifted the Martian princess off her feet.

She lashed out with her other foot, breaking her attacker's grip on her ankle. This had the unfortunate effect of continuing her flight, directly towards the entrance to the temple. Normally this would not have been a problem. Rei was a very nimble girl and possessed a fair amount of martial training. Even wearing her dark priestess robes and slippers, she knew she could twist in the air and land on her feet.

However, when the Venusian and Jupiter princesses came running through the entrance, they stopped and gaped at the airborne girl right at the point on the ground where she was going to land. All three girls went down in a tangled heap.

oOo

Ranma stifled a laugh, watching the trio of girls go down in a mass of flailing limbs and robes, then saw his opening. He could stick around, apologize to the over excitable tomboy in the robes and his two escorts, and then put up with the constant heated looks and fluttering eyelashes...

...or he could make his escape and explore. He could come back in a few hours and talk to the queen and the green-haired chick when they'd finished their discussion.

Decision made, Ranma cleared the girls in one bound and was darting through crystalline hallways before they could recover.

He'd apologize to the girls later.

Well... Probably.

oOo

Ami rubbed her eyes, lifting her gaze from the book lying on the table in palace library. As much fun as she was having reading about the dynamics of magical propulsion when combined with contemporary drive cores, she'd been reading for eight hours. Her eyes traveled to the other books she'd devoured before her latest, noting guiltily that she'd have to put them back on their shelves before she left.

She got up with a sigh, carefully marking her place in her current volume before closing it and gathering all six books on the table. She could at least do the librarians the courtesy of restocking the books herself.

She was walking amongst the shelves when a tall, dark-haired youth darted around the corner, crashing into her and causing her to drop her books. She flinched as she fell back, knowing she was going to tumble painfully into the shelves behind her.

She was pleasantly surprised to feel warm arms encircle her instead, arresting her fall. She opened her eyes to meet cerulean orbs which were almost an exact match.

"Hey, are you alright?" The young man asked in concern, gently leaning back to stand upright and allowing the princess of Mercury to regain her feet. The heels of her dress shoes clicked loudly on the marble floor between the bookshelves in the silence as the girl found herself at a loss for words. He bent down, grabbing the books she'd dropped. "Here, sorry 'bout that."

A clattering of heels at the entrance of the library drew the pigtailed boy's attention, as if he could stare through the bookshelves separating him from the new arrivals. Ami noted the worried look on his face as she accepted the books from him.

"Crap!" The boy's head whipped around helplessly as the tapping of heels drew closer, before leaping directly up and shoving his hands and feet into the narrow space between the high bookshelves and the ceiling. The Princess of Mercury couldn't help but stare up at him, easily two dozen feet up, before her attention was drawn back to ground level when he worriedly brought his finger to his lips with a "Shhh!"

As the boy's pursuers turned the corner, the princess came face to face with three other princesses: Mars, Venus and Jupiter.

"Have you seen a cute guy with a red shirt and black hair?" Venus asked, casting her gaze left and right as if her target might appear around a corner.

"He's got these great eyes, Ami, I swear," Makoto, the princess of Jupiter added. Ami smiled at her fellow schoolmate as she blushed. "And the pigtail was pretty cute, too."

"Are you two sure he's not some youma? That sort of life energy just isn't natural... And I can't believe he's learned to suppress it from my senses so quickly!" Mars added with a pout, scuffing one slippered foot angrily on the floor. Then she smiled. "We were only in the gardens for fifteen minutes before he figured it out! He's probably a ki-adept of some sort. I've got to talk to him!"

For a moment, the blue-haired girl was torn between her fellow princesses and the polite young man perched directly above. Jupiter, at least, was a long-standing friend and the princesses of Venus and Mars weren't too bad, once you got to know them.

On the other hand, the boy clearly just wanted to be left alone. And he'd helped her with her books...

"Sorry, I'm the only one studying in the library right now," Ami admitted truthfully, trying to hide her grin. Clearly her fellow royalty's target wasn't here to study, so it wasn't a lie. That was enough to salve her conscience for now.

The fact that the Venus had taken that cute scholar from the Mars University library before Ami had had a chance to approach him didn't factor into the decision at all. Nor did her desire to upstage her friend from Jupiter... or the somewhat arrogant heir of Mars.

That would be mean and spiteful. She was just trying to help the poor, badgered young man. His pretty eyes and polite, shy nature had nothing to do with it.

She waved her friends goodbye as they left the library on their search. She turned, and was only a little surprised to discover that the young martial artist had already dropped back to the floor without so much as a hint of noise.

His stomach then gurgled, voicing it's hunger.

"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this," the boy offered quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck. His eyes still stared at the library entrance,.over her shoulder.

"There's no need to apologize, Ranma," Ami offered with a smile, drawing those sea-blue orbs back to her. She'd read enough psychology texts to recognize the numerous signs of nervousness and tension. No doubt caused by the trio of boy-crazed girls who'd just departed. "I'm Ami, of House Mercury. Would you care to join me for lunch?"

The smile he returned was all the answer she needed.

oOo

It had only been two hours since Setsuna had left her apartments, so it came as a surprise to find her knocking at the door to Serenity's chambers. She gestured her friend in with a strained smile, still burping her newborn over her shoulder.

"It's the key, Serenity! That boy has left us with the key!" Setsuna babbled, stalking into the room. Serenity arched one eyebrow in response and the Plutonian senshi had the good grace to blush, pausing for a moment before continuing. "The Garnet Orb! The fragments of the mirror which I can't incorporate into it's reconstruction, they contain enough residual magic that I can fully unlock the Gates of Time without effecting the mirror's ability to function at all!"

"Wait, you mean..?" The silver-maned queen began, uncertainly.

"Yes," Pluto confirmed with a broad smile. She brought forth a black orb, dull and unreacting. "I can infuse the Garnet Orb with the temporal magic of the mirror's fragments, and we will not only be able to detect temporal magic, but manifest it at will. Just the fragments will allow me to create a class-A artifact!"

"I thought class-A temporal artifacts were theoretical," the silver-eyed woman muttered, returning the younger Serenity to her crib. She frowned for a moment, tapping her jaw with her index finger as she leaned back against her daughter's crib. "That sort of power is troubling, to say the least. Don't misunderstand me, Setsuna. Of all my Senshi, you're the one I trust the most. But with that sort of power you'll quite literally be the mistress of time itself. You could manipulate it to whatever end you desired."

"My Queen-" Setsuna began, only to be cut off.

"The only reason I'm telling you to continue with this is that trust," Serenity offered sternly, folding her arms. "You among all others are the one I trust to be faithful to the kingdom and it's ideals. Long after I am gone, you will remain. Perhaps you will exist after this entire kingdom is gone. Could you live with that, Sailor Pluto? Could you watch your friends and loved ones die, watch everything you've worked for fall to dust, and yet remain? Could you resist the urge to meddle with time as if you were a god?"

"I.... I'm not sure," Setsuna finally admitted, lowering her gaze to the floor. The Queen could sympathize with her feelings. The girl was so caught up in whether or not she could create the magic that she hadn't yet stopped to wonder if she should. "I'm sworn to guard the Gates of Time and defend the kingdom, but... I don't know if I could defend the Gates from myself."

"Temptation might be too much?" Serenity teased lightly, before her voice turned serious. "If you think you might be tempted, I'm going to need you to firm your resolve. You must not misuse the Gates of Time, but you must have the power to use them if necessary. I expect you to meet my expectations"

"Worried about our visitor?" Pluto asked dryly, crossing her arms.

"I'll admit I'd be far more comfortable with his ability to travel through time if you were there not only to observe, but intervene if you think it necessary," the queen admitted. She shrugged helplessly. "I can't help but trust in him. He's already saved my life once and clearly he's going to befriend and gain the trust of my daughter in the future. However, I'd rest a lot easier knowing you were there to make sure my trust is not misplaced."

"Suddenly I'm not so thrilled about the ability to enhance the Garnet Orb," Pluto muttered, frowning to herself. She glanced at her ruler and, when duty permitted, friend. "Do you happen to have any of Taskent's Reserve in that cabinet of yours?"

"Now now, Pluto," Serenity chided, eyes flashing in mirth. "You need a sure hand if you're to become the Mistress of Time in truth."

"The more I think about this, the less I like it, Serenity," Pluto said bluntly. "I mean, a time-traveling hero is one thing. A time-traveling hero with the magic to spare to unlock the Gates of Time? Perhaps the future me is meddling in affairs more than you'd like?"

"Then I'm sure you'll have firm words with her when you see her," the Queen chuckled.

Setsuna sighed and wondered if she'd look back and pinpoint the day she decided to take up enchanting and crafting as a hobbies would be the day that heralded life became eventually becoming horribly complicated.

oOo

Ranma wasn't just full. He was stuffed.

The girl he'd met in the library had escorted him to a small sitting room in her chambers, calling for lunch for two. What he'd received instead was a three-course banquet even the fabled Saotome stomach was hard-pressed to keep ahead of. It was only after he complained about the serving sizes that Ami had confided, with a giggle, that he wasn't supposed to eat everything.

Not that it mattered. Kitchens: 0, Ranma: 3.

During the meal, the girl had engaged him in small talk, drawing out answers he was surprised to find himself giving.

"Rice, a fish, and two pickles?" Ami asked, incredulous. Ranma sighed, leaning back contentedly in the chair before nodding

"My old man, he was... er, I guess, will be..." The pigtailed boy was thoroughly confused by all this time travel crap, though he was grateful that the blue-haired princess just waved for him to continue. "whatever, he's made some deals that were less than honourable. And it's usually me that gets stuck holding the bag, too."

"Your life sounds rough," the blue-eyed girl sighed, reaching across to lay a hand on Ranma's. He flinched for a second, but didn't draw his hand away. Something about the girl felt distinctly non-threatening. She smiled. "Though look on the bright side... How many amazing things have you done or seen in your life? Where would you be without all the difficulties you face?"

"I've never thought about it like that," Ranma admitted, scratching his jaw with his free hand as his gaze wandered to the window. He sighed, bringing both hands up to scrub his face, not noticing the flash of annoyance in the girl's face as her hand lost contact with his. "Sometimes I wish I was just a normal guy. Then it's times like this, when everything's not crazy, that I can put it into a bit of perspective. I mean, if I ever get back home, I'm never gonna see you or your crazy friends again. I think I might regret that, a bit."

"The life of a martial artist is fraught with peril," the princess returned with a sad grin.

"Speaking of which, I better see what your Queen and the creepy green-haired chick want," Ranma groused, standing. He bowed deeply, startling the blue-clad girl with the polite, courtly gesture. "Thanks for food. And y'know, listening and stuff. It was kinda nice."

He was away before she could respond.

oOo

Haruka couldn't believe her eyes.

Someone was at the bottom of the Queen's tower. Bounding up the various protrusions and dodging the occasional wards as if doing so were the most natural thing in the world. Like he had every right to be avoiding the dozens of guards and as if he were personally exempt from gravity. Had she not been standing on the balcony of her own suite in the palace, she doubted anyone would have noticed.

"Uranus Planet Power, Make Up!"

The newly-raised senshi barely noticed the transformation and after opening the double-doors of her room, she had sufficient space to make the running leap towards the Queen's tower to intercept the pigtailed youth climbing it.

Nobody messed with Serenity. Not unless they could get past her, first.

oOo

Mid-leap up the tower from whence he'd been escorted, Ranma was surprised to find a short-haired blond in a very similar uniform as the green-haired trouble-maker, though it was a dark blue instead of black and featured a bright yellow ribbon in the front.

He was more surprised by the victorious smirk on her face, though this was explained shortly afterwards by the biggest surprise: A rapidly building ball of magical energy concentrated in the woman's right fist.

"World Shaking!"

And the world did shake, as an inescapably fast ball of yellow energy raced along the ground to smash into the martial artist, detonating with a fierce rumble and throwing him back over the edge of the balcony. The blue-eyed youth was shocked at the strength of the attack, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it.

He barely had time to recover from the attack to notice the garden grounds rapidly racing up towards him. He twisted in the air, landing in a light crouch. He immediately sensed a presence above and launched himself back, as the blond which attacked him dove down into the spot he'd just been standing with a rather lethal-looking sword.

"Wow, if those hips of yours didn't act like such a parachute, you might have gotten me with that one!" Ranma informed her cheerfully. The satisfying tightening of her eyebrows and the trembling of her jaw told the pigtailed boy he'd enraged her quite nicely. He wasn't worried. If she tried that magical attack of hers again, he was ready.

The answering grin, however, was new. Angry opponents usually looked less cocky than him, not more.

"Space Sword Buster!" The blonde warrior screamed, slashing three times with her blade. Ranma heard a disturbingly familiar ripping of the air as three vacuum blades tore through the air. While he'd said he would seal the Yamasenken, he doubted that using it against an equally-lethal opponent broke his promise.

"Kijin Raishu Dan!" Two swipes of his left arm and one swing of his right saw three ki-powered vacuum blades race forward to meet the magically-spawned ones of his opponent. Each of the three blades met it's partner with a resounding boom which caused both fighters to flinch, bracing themselves against the shock waves caused by the mutual cancellation.

"Now I'm impressed," the blonde admitted with a broad smile, standing to her full height and resting her sword across her shoulders. Ranma was annoyed to note that she was tall enough he had to tilt his head _up_ to meet her eyes. "I mean, it's one thing to shrug off a World Shaking... But nullifying my Space Sword Buster completely? That takes a lot of skill. Especially for someone just using their ki. It's a shame we're enemies!"

Ranma rolled under a quick running thrust, planting his hands and snapping his left foot up to catch the blond's knuckles. Her sword tumbled from her grip before her attack's momentum had finished and spun through the air before embedding itself into one of the trees. The pigtailed-boy's right foot snapped up right afterwards in an attempt to catch the magic girl in the jaw, but she intercepted the blow with her free hand and used the kick as leverage to flip away.

"I thought I was impressed before, but now... Now, I am very impressed, kid!" Ranma's fuku-clad opponent chuckled, smiling broadly. She pointed at him with one hand. "Do you know how long it's been since I've been disarmed at all? You're the first unaugmented human who's ever managed it! You should feel proud of yourself!

"But," She added with a chuckle, "You're still going to lose. World Shaking!"

"Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma returned, thrusting his hands forward and pouring his ki into the attack. He would win. It was impossible that he could lose! Life energy met magic, exploding brilliantly. Much like the results of the blond's Space Sword Buster when pitted against the Kijin Raishu Dan, the result was a stalemate.

However, this time, Ranma knew he couldn't just wait for the bright lights to fade. He was getting tired and his opponent was just getting warmed up. It wasn't a difference of skill, necessarily, just a difference of stamina: Her magic clearly gave her a nearly-infinite supply which he couldn't hope to match.

So he took the fight to her, diving through the maelstrom of power which separated them to drive a fist into her jaw. He winced at the solid thud, not out of sympathy but due to the blossoming pain in his hand. It didn't diminish his satisfaction as she skipped across the grass, bouncing twice before getting her hands under herself, skidding along the ground to come to a crouched stop.

"Now I'm the one who's impressed," Ranma admitted, thumbing his nose and crouching with his hands on his knees. "With an ass that big, I can't believe you managed to stop yourself from bouncing until you hit a wall."

"Die!"

"Not a chance," Ranma chuckled, ducking under the high kick she launched only to halt it by extending his right arm up. At the same time his left arm extended and he twisted, sweeping her left foot from the ground while twisting her right leg. The resulting counter dumped the blond warrior onto the ground chest first.

_What is she made of? _Ranma wondered, fighting the urge to rub his wrists as he back-flipped away from thrashing legs, opening up space as he re-evaluated her fighting ability. No wonder she was so sloppy: She had enough strength and endurance to soak up anything but the strongest attacks. With those magic attacks of hers, it was like fighting Herb if he'd ever gone through the Bakusai Tenketsu training. A very, very unfair combination.

The fuku-clad warrior got to her feet with a scowl, and the pigtailed boy grinned.

"You're pretty tough," Ranma admitted. His grin turned into a smirk. "It's a shame you ain't got the skill to back it up."

"I'm going to beat you until I can't see straight," his opponent vowed, crouching low.

It was then that their fight was interrupted.

"Uranus, why are you beating up Serenity-sama's guest?" Ranma recognized the questioner as the tall girl from before, princess... Jupiter.

"Guest?" Uranus asked, staring in confusion at the blue-eyed boy.

"I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm stuck here until the Queen decides what to do with me," Ranma admitted, scratching the base of his pigtail. The blond's face changed not one bit. "Sorry 'bout this?"

Somehow, the apology didn't really help.

oOo

Author's Notes:

Ranma is 5'5" and Haruka is 5'8". That's right, she's three inches taller. I looked it up for that part of the scene. Though the rest of the senshi are freaking short... All the inners (except Makoto) average out at five feet and an inch.

For those who didn't catch it (though among the reviews I noted people who caught both references) the two nods were the Sky Prince from Gabriel Blessing's Destiny and the more subtle reference of Mercury fire wine from Ozzallos' Heir to the Empire. They're not going to be plot elements in any way... I just wanted to give a nod to the two influences in my decision to write a crossover in the first place.

Though speaking of Ozzallos, it still weirds me out to learn that one of my favourite authors (fanfiction or otherwise) has one of _my _stories in _his _favourites. It's as surreal as being a local musician and then finding out that Dave Grohl is a fan of your work.

And for the record, not revealing the curse yet was very deliberate. The payoff will be worth it in a later chapter. And I apologize for the length (or lack thereof) of the previous chapters. My computer was crashing roughly every twenty minutes or so, meaning I wound up rewriting a couple hundred words out of every thousand at least twice (and in one case... seven times). It's fixed now, hence the longer chapter.

-Gaming Ikari


	5. Chapter 5

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

Chapter 5

oOo

The princesses of Mars, Jupiter and Venus stood watching the two combatants. Rather than address them, the short-haired blond decided to answer her opponent's apology with a question of her own.

"Are you in the habit of fighting before trying to explain yourself?" Sailor Uranus demanded of the snotty, arrogant bastard. That smirk. It was really pushing her to the edge, but she threw all of her impressive willpower into letting go of her anger. He was a guest.

"Are you in the habit of blasting first, asking questions second?" The boy returned.

"It comes with the job. Being a senshi means, first and foremost, we protect Queen Serenity with our lives. And I should add that people welcome in the palace usually don't get to the top of towers by jumping balcony to balcony. So, what's your excuse?" Haruka demanded, scowling for good measure. The nerve of the boy, really.

"I was bored," the boy shrugged.

Taking advantage of the silence following his words and pondering the intelligence (or lack thereof) of someone who fought a Sailor Senshi to relieve boredom, the tall blond walked past her opponent to retrieve her sword.

"And you really thought fighting was the best way to solve your boredom?" The dark-haired priestess demanded, hands on hips. At times like this, the princess of Uranus found it hard to fault the girl's temper. She walked closer to the boy. "I mean really, what were you thinking? You're lucky we got here when we did! What if she'd used one of her more powerful attacks on you?"

"Like her vacuum blade thing?" The boy snorted as he crossed his arms. Haruka couldn't stop herself from grinning with him at the way the girl's gaped. "She's pretty good, but... so am I."

"I'll agree with him on at least that part, girls," the senshi admitted, nodding her head to the black-haired boy. He quirked his head to the side and smirked once more. "Whatever else, he matched me blow for blow until you two interrupted. His ki attacks were able to match both my World Shaking and Space Sword Buster to a degree I never would have expected from a human.

"Though I would have had you in the end," Haruka couldn't help but add with a smirk of her own, enjoying the outraged look on the boy's face as his hands twitched and dropped out of rest. Her voice raised, teasing, as the queen's guest began to sputter a response. "Let's face it, you're very, very good for an unaugmented human. Probably one of the most powerful out there. My power, however, is derived from every ley line that crosses Uranus. You'd exhaust your reserves before I even started to get winded."

"Pick a time and place, blondie," Ranma finally countered, pointing at her with one finger. His hand then clenched into one trembling fist. "You haven't seen even a quarter of the tricks I've got up my sleeve. Your endurance ain't any good if I can end the fight in one blow!"

"If Queen Serenity so allows, I may decide to give you a more thorough demonstration of the capabilities her senshi possess, though I leave it to you to convince her that such a demonstration is healthy for a fragile little thing like you," Sailor Uranus only had half her concentration on the delicious effect her words were having on the boy's temper. The other half was focused on the wards surrounding the palace. "Until then, I'll leave you with these girls. Maybe they won't lose you again. Bye!"

"Hey, wait a minute! I'm not-" the rest of the boy's words were lost as the senshi employed a simple teleportation spell, leaving her in a hallway near the main entrance. She released her powers and grinned, more than happy to trade the walk back to her suite for a dramatic exit after the frustrations of the fight.

oOo

"Damn that... that..." Ranma sputtered, his mind searching for and discarding suggestion after suggestion. Tomboy was right out, that was reserved for special people... yet nothing seemed to fit the woman more.

"Contemptible woman?" The blond suggested helpfully with a smile.

"Nah, too Kuno," Ranma replied terse, not bothering to explain.

It was then that he felt, or sensed, the weight of two glares striking the side of his face. He turned to find an angry, raven-haired priestess and an equally angry brunette princess. The priestess was an over-boiled pot already, if the growing red in her face was any indication. The brunette, on the other hand, looked about as welcoming as a cold winter morning.

"So, would you care to explain why you just ran off after throwing me into my friends?" Deep, brownish purple eyes glared at the pigtailed boy amidst a cascade of black hair. She stomped up to the martial artist, her nose nearly touching his as she glared. At least this girl was shorter him... though he noted sourly that the other angry one was taller than him.

"Clearly he'd done his work with us and there were other women he needed to beat on," the tall princess explained. Definitely a chill, there.

"Hey now, you're the one who attacked me!" Ranma retorted angrily, crossing his arms and stepping back from the furious chick in front of him so he could address them both. "In fact, I don't know why you're so angry in the first place! Of course I wandered off! I don't like being attacked any more than the next guy."

"That explains why you ditched her, but what about us?" The blond was neither smiling, nor helpful now. Ranma tried a weak grin in her direction and was disappointed when it wasn't returned.

"Well, in the past stuff like that has usually turned out bad for me. I figured I'd give you ladies a chance to... uh, cool off! Yeah!" The black-haired boy tried with a grin. He was pleased to note that at least the blond looked mollified by the statement, though the brunette and priestess were just as angry as before.

"So, would you care to explain the trouble you've been causing my girlfriend?" A voice asked right from Ranma's right ear. The voice was calm and quiet, but carried an undeniable menace to it. Ranma spun to find himself eye to eye with a tall, blue-haired senshi. Those eyes were very, very cold and very, very angry.

"He's been causing a lot of trouble today, Lady Neptune... You'll have to be a lot more specific if you'd like to get a helpful answer out of him," the brunette behind Ranma put in. Much like the blond's last statement, this one fell on the wrong side of line if it was intended to be helpful.

."Look, if you're talking about that psycho chick with the sword, she attacked me first!" Then Ranma's mind processed the question once more. "Wait, she's your girlfriend?"

"Is that a problem?" If the Saotome heir thought the girl's voice was cold before, he was wrong. Her tone now made the previous one a warm summer breeze. At noon. In the middle of a desert. Instead of verbalizing a reply, he just shook his head violently. "Good. Ladies, farewell."

With that, the senshi of Neptune walked off.

"Let's get you back to the queen before you cause any more trouble," the princess of Jupiter commented sourly.

oOo

Serenity couldn't help but chuckle at the reports she'd been getting. First there was the report from the princesses of Jupiter and Venus that their pigtailed quarry had the unfortunate luck to meet the princess of Mars under less than ideal circumstances. Then the report from several of her staff of Mercury's rather intimate lunch with the boy. And just moments ago, palace security had delivered a summary of the boy's rather surprising fight with Sailor Uranus.

She'd known sending the boy off with the blond and brown-haired duo would lead to amusing mischief. The eternally childish part of her had actually hoped for it. This, however, had surpassed all of her expectations.

The boy was a marvel. Even now the video feed from his fight with Uranus was downloading onto her portable computer and she eagerly waited for the video to compile. The banter was just as amusing as she thought it would be, though she was rather taken aback by the boy's ability to match Uranus for the duration of the fight. He was, in theory, just a regular human. Setting aside the mind-boggling training he must have endured to bring himself to that level, it wouldn't be good for morale if word of the fight spread too far, or too accurately.

After all, when one is making a case for being the supreme warriors in the kingdom, it doesn't do for an upstart boy to match their supposedly unmatched power. The Sailor Senshi had a reputation across the galaxy as the meanest, nastiest bunch of opponents anyone could ever worry about having. If word got out, it might mean they'd have to fight a lot more, instead of relying on their reputations to deescalate tense situations.

Ah well. One worry at a time.

He'd managed to piss off, delight, or otherwise coax a very direct response out of every one of her current or potential Sailor Senshi.

Well... except for one of them.

Serenity found herself at a crossroads: On the one hand, the mischievous part of her loved the wanton chaos her guest inspired in everyone around him. The thought of the outgoing young man meeting a withdrawn, serious woman like Sailor Saturn made her imagination sizzle with anticipation.

On the other hand, delivering a guest she wanted to keep intact into the hands of a woman he was well-equipped to enrage seemed like a terrible idea. Especially when one took into consideration the fact that said woman could lay waste to a planet and carried a very big stick with a blade on the end.

Determined to quash her inner-child, Serenity prepared to set aside her amusement and get back to the other, less-interesting reports waiting for her review when Fate decided to settle the matter for her. Answering the ringing communicator, the Queen of the Moon Kingdom was a surprised to see the very woman she'd been thinking about.

"Serenity-sama? Is this isn't a bad time?" Hotaru asked, fine brows furrowing over an angular nose. All the promise she'd had as a child had certainly been fulfilled, the Queen thought idly. "I've returned to the palace and I've got the report regarding the Tau Sigma sector you requested. The threat there has been neutralized."

"Come join me for tea, Saturn," the silver-haired monarch said with a smile. "It will be nice to sit and talk for a while. I also have a guest you might find very interesting."

"Oh?" Her senshi's response was flat, but the queen knew her well enough to realize she'd piqued her interest.

"Come and join me. I'm not saying anything more until you get here," Serenity teased.

oOo

Ranma had only been in the queen's tower for seconds before Serenity suddenly declared it was princess Serenity's feeding time. Her guest, a rather severe-looking woman in a short black dress, got up to leave without even acknowledging the martial artist's presence, index fingers tucking long dark purple hair behind her ears as she did so.

"Oh, and Hotaru? Could you do me a favour and guide Ranma to his suite?" The queen asked innocently, and the woman merely nodded in response without changing her bored facial expression at all.

It didn't take long for Ranma to realize that the woman wasn't going to say a single word to him. Loathe as he was to start a conversation, the thought of a silent walk through the palace was even more annoying.

"So, you're one of these magic girls, huh?" The blue-eyed youth tried hesitantly, speeding up to walk beside the woman. The only indication that she'd heard the question was a brief shifting of her eyes in his direction, and her only answer was the steady tap, tap, tap of her heels on the marble floor.

Ranma fell back scowling at the silent warrior's back. He was only trying to be polite.

"Which planet are you from?" The pigtailed boy asked, again speeding up to walk beside his guide instead of slightly behind. Again, the only sign she'd heard was a quick darting of her gaze to meet his and the relentless tapping of shoes on the hard tile of the floor.

Ranma scowled again, this time not dropping back.

"Not the talkative type, are you," he stated, the words not even meriting a glance this time. He sighed, clasping his hands behind his head as he walked. "Well fine, I guess I'll leave you alone if you really don't want my company."

"So, you can learn," Ranma sputtered in surprise at the slightly teasing words, noting a small smile in his direction before the woman suddenly came to a stop. One arm rose to gesture vaguely at the door in front of the pair as the smile faded back to the bland look she seemed to always sport. "These are your rooms. The door is coded to your specific magic pattern, so you should be the only one who can get in."

"Y'know, when you smile you're kinda cute," Ranma finally admitted, grinning at the surprised look on the woman's face as he opened the door. He didn't notice the appraising look she directed at his back as the door shut behind him.

oOo

Author's Notes:

Well, the Uranus/Ranma scene was fun to write. Very fun. Iin my outline I've summed this trip up by categorizing the over impression he made on everyone important into Good, Undecided, Bad, or _Very_ Bad. I'll leave you all to speculate who decided what. I'd be impressed if someone managed to nail them down.

I'm stopping it here because in an hour I'm going to be beginning a 36 hour shift and I think you guys would prefer an update now, instead of in a week when I'll have my next chance to write anything. This might have been longer, but I finished a 15 hour shift a couple hours ago and didn't have as much time as I would have liked.

About the only bright side is that I can sleep on the job for a couple hours, here and there.

-Gaming Ikari


	6. Chapter 6

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

Chapter 6

oOo

His left foot slid rapidly across the ground as his leg straightened, his right leg bending and his body tilting forwards as he lowered his center of gravity. He uncoiled his leg and spun, twisting into a low spinning backhand. He grinned at the feint, leaping up and over his opponent. Rather than abandon his backhand, he bent his arm a fraction and cocked his now-open hand to deflect the expected counter-attack to his reckless-looking offensive.

As he landed behind his foe he again twisted and planted his hands, neatly tumbling over the spinning sweep which might have caught a lesser warrior off-balance. He grinned as he cartwheeled around his foe, straightening his left leg to strike a glancing blow across their jaw. By now, his thoroughly frustrated opponent would hardly notice the blow, too angry to focus on anything but their inability to hit someone who floated around them as insubstantial as smoke.

Off balance both mentally and physically, they were completely unprepared for the coup-de-grace of the pigtailed prodigy's complex maneuver: Grinning in triumph, blue eyes glittering like sapphires, the martial artist planted his left foot and as his body righted, his left arm reached out to hook his enemy's neck for just a moment. The move unbalanced his foe and caused them to bend forward in an attempt to escape while shaving off precious time Ranma would have otherwise spent halting his momentum.

His opponent's head then collided with a viciously raised knee, ending the fight with sharp smack of flesh on flesh. Ranma backed off three steps, exhaling loudly before bowing his respects to the defeated training dummy. While an advanced piece of machinery capable of simulating the movement of a human, it lacked the cognitive ability to bow back. Though after the display he'd just given the arrogant youth decided it would have been kowtowing if it could.

He was distracted from his reflections by the slow, steady applause of the green-haired senshi, Sailor Pluto.

"I'm surprised you're up this early. Most of the palace is still asleep, except for the night shift," the senshi favoured Ranma with a small smile. "I've got news about your mirror."

"Yeah? So have you got it working yet?" Ranma asked, walking to the edge of the training mat to grab his towel from the floor. He shook it unfolded before scrubbing his sweat-slick hair, then grabbed each end and let the towel rest on the back of his neck. "It can't be that hard to find tape around here."

"Tape?" The woman asked, eyes growing wide. "You expected me to fix an artifact powerful enough to bend time and space with a bit of tape?

"Hey, it worked last time!" Ranma noted defensively, with a shrug that tugged his hands upwards a bit. "It's how me and pop got home after using it the first time. Heck, I think until you broke it again it was still just taped together. Tape works."

"I'll be using something considerably more durable and permanent than tape, I assure you," Pluto noted dryly, raising one green eyebrow. "No, it's not yet complete. There have also been some complications with the restoration which necessitated some research on my part."

"Complications?"

"The problem was nothing important, I assure you." Pluto paused for a sigh, as if to carefully choose her words before she spoke. "There is one side-effect, however. One you take the mirror from me, it will become bound to you. Until it's purpose is fulfilled, you won't be able to rid yourself of it."

"So... You're saying that I ain't gonna see my home again until I do whatever this thing wants me to do?" Ranma queried, scratching his chin. He shrugged, adding, "Whatever. If that's what it takes, that's what it takes. It ain't like I'm getting any closer to home sticking around here."

"You're really willing to trust your life and your future to a magical device not even I can discern?" Pluto asked incredulously, her normally calm demeanor cracking just a touch. "You don't know when or even if this will ever end! You might wind up farther from your home than you are now!"

"And I might wind up back at home after another trip or two," Ranma countered with a shrug and a grin. He spread his arms wide. "Who can say? I'm caught up in something that I can't out fight or out think. If I don't go along with it, I'm never gonna see home again. If I do go along with it, I might. Seems pretty simple to me."

"The gods preserve me from fatalistic fools..." The woman murmured, shaking her head once. Her voice resumed it's normal, authoritative tone. "The repairs will be done in a few days. I understand Queen Serenity has things planned to occupy your time. Take care until next we meet."

"If I survive that long," Ranma muttered to himself, eyes rolling at the thought of his last guided tour. With her back turned to him, he didn't notice the small grin on Sailor Pluto's face as she walked away.

oOo

The next few days passed by in a blur for the pigtailed time traveler, as Queen Serenity had several of the princesses and/or senshi guide him around to see the various sights of the Moon.

Some of the trips were pleasant, such as the day the princess of Mercury guided him to the largest library in the city. It was a historical building, and she seemed to know each and every corner of the place like it was her own home. She even managed to somehow make the boring facts a little more interesting. They wound up spending more time than they had been alloted just eating another lunch, much to the consternation of his next guides.

That trip, that trip he could have done without. The princesses of Mars and Jupiter were not any happier to see him then than they'd been when they'd parted company with him. Most of the trek to the botanical gardens was spent in a moody silence broken only by the occasional insult hurled at or by the blue-eyed visitor, with the princess of Mars being far and away the most vocal of the two.

The next day, he found his third trip confusing, almost as if Queen Serenity were sending those particular girls to provoke a reaction. He could have sworn he fought the blond senshi, Uranus, but it seemed like she was more amused by the fight than anything. Her girlfriend, on the other hand, brought new meaning to the words Soul of Ice and acknowledged his presence only as necessary. He was so distracted by odd behavior of the duo that he couldn't even remember what they were supposed to have shown him, afterwards.

The fourth trip was the strangest by far, as both the princess of Venus and the senshi of Saturn showed up at his doorstep. Between the girl's obvious attention and the woman's reticence, Ranma found himself more interested in the byplay between the two than the impressive marketplace they were supposed to be showing him. The small smiles the blond and black-haired duo managed to draw out of the reticent senshi grew more and more common as the trip came to a close, and Ranma found himself wishing for a bit more time with the pair.

On the third day, it was Sailor Pluto who greeted him as he emerged from his chambers.

The mirror was ready.

oOo

The repaired Nanban mirror lay on a small red velvet pillow, reflective side up. As far as Ranma could tell, it appeared as if it had never been broken at all. No seam showed in the now flawless face and no sign of how the metal frame, now rejoined, was repaired. It wasn't just polished, but seemed to glow with a very faint golden light.

He approached the table on which it rested, hands carefully kept to his side as he leaned in for a closer inspection. Even intense scrutiny revealed no flaws.

"As soon as I pick this thing up, I'm not gonna be able to get rid of it until I'm done whatever I'm supposed to do, right?" The pigtailed martial artist asked Setsuna. The woman nodded in response, but otherwise made no response. His gaze transferred to the silver-haired monarch watching. "I guess this is goodbye, huh?"

"We may yet meet again," Serenity admitted with a small smile, crossing her arms. One hand left the pose to wave negligently in the air. "Let's face it, I'm a little too much trouble not to need saving now and again. I can't imagine that you're going to be gone from my life forever."

"Maybe not," Ranma admitted with a grin, scratching the base of his pigtail with a grin. "Well, I guess it's goodbye if you've got good luck. And if not, I'll be there to turn bad to good, right?"

"That sounds like a promise, my young friend," the Queen said with a grin which matched her guest's. She crossed the distance between them to take up his free hand. "While experience suggests it'd be best to never see you again, I'll admit I'm looking forward to it. Despite whatever might come with it."

"I'm the best, remember?" The blue-eyed youth snorted, placing his free hand on the slim queen's shoulder. "Of course you wanna see me again. It means whoever the next idiot is who threatens your kingdom, he's gonna get beaten just as easy as that demon."

"Perhaps you will vanquish my enemies, at that," Serenity nodded with a smile.

"Take care, then," Ranma finished, reaching his hand out to snag the mirror from it's resting place. The instant his hand touched the device, the world blurred as a thousand microscopic daggers pierced his brain. Despite his tolerance to pain, a legacy of his training, he screamed.

oOo

It took some time, but eventually Ranma's vision cleared... and for once, his vision wasn't filled with a vista from an alien surface. He was home. Well within Nerima, if his memory was correct. He was barely two blocks from home, the Tendo dojo.

He brightened at the prospect. Clearly, the artifact had already run it's course. He'd saved some ancient queen's life and now he was back. Just another crazy adventure for his memoirs.

With that thought, he sprung to the rooftops. He'd be home in time for rice and fish..

oOo

The wedding preparations were nearly finished, Kasumi noted with a small smile. Akane would be so pleased. The cake was perfect, as were the little figures on top. The eldest Tendo knew her youngest sister's dress was perfect, and had made certain that the groom's tuxedo was ready and waiting for his arrival.

He'd sworn, often enough, that he would protect her and care for her. And now, he was ready to take up that responsibility. Nothing could forestall the joyous occasion about to take place. Except, of course, for a ghost from the past.

But that was impossible.

For clearly, it couldn't be the real Ranma Saotome walking by her window.

"Oh my."

oOo

It was, perhaps, a kindness that Ukyou was the first person to spot Ranma as he wandered the grounds of the dojo. Anyone else would have paused and stared, but not the okonomiyaki chef. She recognized a problem, a danger, not just to her friends now but to her best friend of all time. And she moved to intercept it, instantly.

"Ranchan, honey? Are you okay?" The brunette cut through the obvious questions of where he'd been and what he'd been doing, as clearly they would be answered sooner or later. The important part was that he was back.

"Hey, Ucchan. I'm just looking for... Ah, it doesn't matter," Ranma's gaze lifted from the grass to her, and finally took in the fancy, well-tailored dress. "What's with the fancy getup?"

"It's not important," The brown-eyed girl dimissed with a wave, placing both hands on her best friend's shoulders. She drew him into a tight hug. "It's good to see you again!"

"Again!? It's only been a week!"

It was then that Ukyou realized the full extent of the problem. She'd grown used to the unusual from her best friend over the months that she'd spent in Nerima with him, but she knew, instinctively, that this was different. This was something far more serious.

"Ranchan... Honey, you've only been gone a week?"

"Well, not a week. Before I left, I didn't really drop by to visit you since last Saturday," Ranma tallied, ticking off his fingers as he spoke. "So, that and the three days I've been gone and yeah, it's been a week. And let me tell ya, Ucchan, this one's been a little crazier than usual."

"I'd believe it," the brunette commented sadly, smiling for her friend. She had to get him away. Now. "Say, what do you think of the idea of me frying you up a couple of Ranchan specials, huh?"

"Sounds good!"

The Kounji heir was happy to miss her friend's wedding.

Her other friend needed her more, if his confused expression was any indication.

oOo

Ranma knew something was off, despite Ucchan's smiles. He knew his best friend better than anyone else in the world and he knew when she was feeling tense. Even as they sat in her restaurant and chattered, he knew something was wrong with everything.

"Okay, Ucchan... Spill it," Ranma finally sighed, ignoring the mouth-watering treat she dished up in front of him. His stormy blue eyes met her soft brown, and she flinched at the look. He reached across the distance separating them, placing one gentle hand on her arm. "Please, what's going on?"

"Ranchan... I guess I can't fool you, huh?" The brunette smiled sadly, reaching up to clasp his hand where it rested on her arm. She raised the hand to her lips, kissing it gently. "Take another look at me. Does it really look like it's just been a week, honey?"

Ranma took another look, and started to notice the little things that had escaped his notice. The slight impression of lines at the corners of his best friend's lips. The hint of markings at the corners of her eyes. The worn look of furniture in a shop he was used to seeing brand new. Long hair, longer than she'd ever had before.

"No," Ranma denied, trying to force the changes from his thoughts. He was with his buddy Ucchan. She'd been with him through it all, back from when they were both still six. She was only seventeen. He knew that. Knew it for a fact. He knew her birthday, and it wasn't due for months, yet.

"Sorry, honey," Ukyou confirmed sadly, raising her hand to cup Ranma's face. "Whatever journey you've just come back from, it's been more than a week. More than a month. More than a year, even."

She paused, tears of joy brimming in her eyes. "I've been mourning you for three years, now. I never thought I'd have you back with me."

Ranma didn't know what to say.

He couldn't know.

How could anyone respond to that?

oOo

Author's Notes:

Poor, poor Ranma. And to think, I haven't even _**started **_screwing with him yet. I stopped her because it's a really good place to stop. Further exposition at this point would detract from the emotions Ranma (and by extension, you, the reader) is feeling.

For the record, there was a very specific reason for not revealing his curse in the past, which will be revealed in due time.

-Gaming Ikari


	7. Chapter 7

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

Chapter 7

oOo

"Three years? No, it can't have been three years. There's no way it's been three years! I just saw you a week ago!" His eyes found hers and he ignored the changes in his best friend's face. "Stop kidding around, Ucchan. You're not even gonna be eighteen for another couple months!"

"Ranchan..." The brown-eyed woman began, reaching out to take his hand.

"I was only gone three days, Ucchan! Three days! How can it have been three years!?" Ranma's voice edged on panic, and only his friend's hands on his kept him from leaping up from his chair. He ran his free hand through his hair, casting his eyes around the restaurant. It was easier than meeting that familiar, unfamiliar face.

Silence rushed in and he wished he could fill it. Blue eyes met the chef's unwavering gaze.

"Three years?" He reached back to the waistband of his pants, pulling the Nanban mirror from where it was tucked. He gazed into his reflection in the mirror, bringing the impressive force of his will to bear. A dark, sickly green aura lit the restaurant with an unearthly glow. "Take me back, damn you! You went too far!"

The mirror lay dormant in his hand, which slowly began to shake.

"Take me back, damn it! I don't deserve this! Take me back before I smash you into a million pieces, you worthless piece of junk!" The pigtailed boy's voice grew louder and more shrill as he spoke, and he leaped off the stool, throwing the mirror with all his might onto the ground. It rebounded sharply with no harm, bouncing off the hard floor and bouncing into the street. He made no move to retrieve it, instead sitting down at counter once again.

"Was that the Nanban mirror?" Ukyou asked after a brief pause. She gazed out of the shop's opening. "I don't get it... Cologne said that the Nanban mirror was destroyed!"

"Huh? Oh, it was... For a while. I met someone who was able to fix it. Damn thing's cursed, though. I don't have any control over it," he admitted, pausing as something occurred to him. He reached back behind himself again and pulled the mirror from it's resting place. "And now it's indestructable and I can't seem to get RID OF IT!" He once again hurled the thing through the door, punctuating his last words.

"Ranchan, you're back though. Cologne... She said that you were trapped ten thousand years in the past and that your only way back had been destroyed. She said we'd lost you forever," Ukyou explained, circling around. To her surprise, her fiance didn't flinch when she hugged him. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

"I'm sorry, Ucchan. It's my fault. I was stupid enough to use that damned mirror," Ranma said, not resisting yet really returning the embrace. When she finally pulled away, he frowned. "And that's not the worst part. I don't think this thing is done with me."

"What do you mean?" The brunette asked hesitantly.

"Like I said, I've got no control over this thing," Ranma muttered with a sigh, staring down at the uneaten okonomiyaki as he spoke. The woman wasn't used to this sort of pessimism from him. He was always so bright, so cheerful. He sounded defeated, broken. "For all I know, I could be whipped through time for the rest of my life."

"No, that's not fair. I can't just lose you again, Ranma!" The brunette cried, hugging him once more. "I just got you back! You can't seriously tell me you're going to leave me again!"

"I don't really have a choice," Ranma said with a shrug. He pulled the mirror from his pants and placed it on the counter. "When I took the mirror, I was told that whatever journey it's going to take me on is going to keep going without giving me any choice until it's done. I can only come back when it's all over."

"If you even can," the brown-eyed woman mumbled into his shirt. She pulled away, wiping tears from her eyes and then forcing a smile. "So, we need to make the best of whatever time we have!"

"You're right," the raven-haired martial artist agreed, testing a grin. It didn't hurt. "So tell me, how crazy was my funeral?"

"Guess!" His friend replied, grinning to herself at the memory. Thanks in part to the time since it had happened, and mostly due to Ranma being in front of her right now, she could look back on it with amusement, now.

"Let's see..." Ranma mused, rubbing his chin and adopting a pose reminicsent of The Thinker. He then pounded an open palm with his fist, straightening his head. "It started with a solemn ceremony. Something small, probably a week or two after the old ghoul said there was no way I could possibly come back. You, my family, the Tendous, Shampoo, the old ghoul, and maybe the old lech. Something solemn."

"Right so far, except Ryouga was there as well," his fiancee admitted, waving her hand for him to continue. "But..."

"But then either Kuno or Kodachi showed up," Ranma predicted with an unwavering grin. "Actually now that I think about it, they both probably both showed up at the same time. Kuno was probably complaining about how 'that vile sorcerer took my pigtailed love from me' while Kodachi was wailing about how 'that red-haired strumpted vanished with my poor Ranma-sama'. That's when you, Akane and Shampoo beat the crap outta 'em and sent them flying across the ward, right?"

"Two for two!" Ucchan confirmed with a giggle.

"Now, I'm not certain about the next bit, but Mousse probably showed up looking for Shampoo. When he found out I was dead, he probably grabbed you and proclaimed 'With Saotome dead, you can finally admit your love for me, Shampoo!'" Ranma offered, though Ukyou grinned even wider and shook her head at the statement. "No? So what happened?"

"Well like I said, Ryouga was there, honey. He's the one that got hugged," Ukyou said, and Ranma laughed at the thought. The giggling chef grabbed his arm, and after several aborted attempts managed to speak through her laughter. "Wait, wait, it gets better! Now, everyone gets mad at Mousse, so I grabbed a bucket of water and splashed both of them, figuring the easiest way to get rid of the blind jackass would be to turn him into his duck form."

"And Ryouga turned into P-chan right in front of Akane," Ranma supplied, his jaw dropping. He began to chuckle once the shock began to wear off, before it turned into full blown laughter. "Oh man, I wish I'd seen that! Pork fry must have landed in Hokkaido, at least!"

"If not farther," his friend replied, though she cast him a suspicious look as her giggles subsided. "So if you knew about his curse, why didn't you ever tell Akane?'

"I promised not to, before I knew he'd use it against me like that," Ranma replied with a shrug. "Though to be fair to Ryouga, his pig form's so small he couldn't really help it when she grabbed him. Sometimes he'd use it to piss me off, but for the most part he couldn't escape once Akane grabbed him. So what happened after Akane created a new skylight?"

"After that, it was just pandemonium. I don't know how they heard about it, but Herb and Kiima both showed up to pay their respects. They started to argue, then Ryu Kumon and Tarou both showed up. They got involved in the free-for-all, and so Akane, Shampoo and I started trying to restore order. By the time everything was finished, the entire funeral home was demolished."

"Good thing you guys didn't have a body. I bet my coffin got smashed pretty quick," Ranma muttered with a scowl. "I've suddenly got this horrible picture of myself lying on the ground in a suit, flowers clasped over my chest while ki-blasts, feathers, wind blades, and ink flies all over the place."

"It was a bit of a mess," Ukyou admitted, laughter finally subsiding. "So Ranchan... What are you going to do now? Are you going to go see your parents?"

"Yeah. I guess I should probably go see Akane and the Tendous, too," Ranma supplied, and he noted the way his friend refused to meet his eyes at the comment. "Akane... She found someone else, didn't she? Wait, your dress, being at the Tendous... I arrived just in time for her wedding, didn't I?"

His voice was soft, but Ucchan flinched as if she'd been struck. She finally met his eyes and nodded, before offering, hesitantly, "It's been three years, Ranma. It's not like she just went out and found someone else while your grave was still fresh. We all thought that if you could find a way back, it'd have been within the first few months. We never-"

"Never knew I'd suddenly be back after years of being gone," Ranma completed with a sigh. He stood, clasping his best friend's shoulders. "Look, I'm not mad at her. Well, I am, but... You know... I can't be."

"So how did you guess it was her wedding today?" The okonomiyaki chef asked, embracing him in another hug.

"The mirror. Seems like every time it takes me someplace, it does it for a reason. The first trip took me somewhere to save some chick's life. The second trip cursed me with the mirror so I couldn't get rid of it or break it. Every trip seems to be worse and worse, and Akane getting married to someone is right up there on the list of things I didn't wanna see," Ranma sighed, tucking the mirror behind his back and then gently pushing his friend from her hug. "Let's go. I wanna see her and everyone else at least once before I'm zapped somewhere else. No time like the present, right?"

"Ranchan honey..." Ukyou began, but Ranma caught her gaze with his own.

"Look, I promise to behave, alright? I've already caused one of Akane's weddings to be messed up, I don't plan on doing it again," the blue-eyed youth assured her. Then he grinned. "But first, I do gotta ask for a favour, Ucchan."

"What's that?" Her voice was equal parts suspicious and curious. Her best friend had proven surprisingly devious in the past.

"I'm not gonna show up dirty and wearing these clothes for a wedding. First, I'm going to take a quick bath and then you're gonna lend me a tuxedo. I know you've got at least one around here, and it'll probably fit me." Ranma laughed at the sudden grin on her face.

"I'm sure we can find something, honey."

oOo

Akane couldn't help but feel a little bit of disappointment. Although nobody had said anything, Ukyou's sudden absence moments before the wedding ceremony was not a welcome surprise. Kasumi had said only that something incredibly urgent had come up but refused to offer any further explanation. With that issue settled, she had no choice but to continue the ceremony.

As she walked down the aisle, escorted by her father, her eyes found her husband-to-be's. He smiled warmly, looking very handsome in his tuxedo. His raven-black hair was, for once, combed neatly. Beside him stood his grandfather, his only relative.

Opposite him stood her sisters, Konatsu, and her friends, Yuka and Sayuri. All of them wore the same, pale yellow dress, tight at the chest and waist before exploding into elegant ruffles from the knees down to nearly the floor.

The audience was filled with distant relatives and friends from the neighbourhood, including the Saotomes. Genma had donned a tuxedo in lieu of his usual, scruffy dogi and his wife was the picture of elegance in her kimono, not looking strange at all being the only one dressed out of the wedding's style.

Finally she and her father arrived at the front of the hall, and he released her to go stand next to her grandfather-in-law. She took a step forward, standing side by side with the man who would be hers in only a few, short minutes.

"And now, we may begin," the priest intoned, his eyes travelling first to Akane. "Akane Tendo, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"

"I do," she answered, smiling broadly.

"Very well," the minister said, turning to her fiance. "Shinnosuke Kusao, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"

"I do," the man from Ryugenzawa said with a smile matched only by his wife's.

"Then I pronounce you man and wife," the robed man concluded. He smiled at Shinnosuke. "You may now kiss the bride."

Akane and Shinnosuke turned to one another, and the young man slowly raised his wife's veil. They leaned together and kissed.

It was the happiest moment of Akane Kusao's life.

oOo

"It looks like they're already into the reception," Ucchan noted to Ranma as they arrived at the Tendo Dojo. Ukyou was still wearing her yellow bridesmaid dress, and had her arm wrapped around Ranma's. The raven-haired boy, however, had abandoned his traditional red shirt and black slacks for something different.

The only thing Ukyou had which would fit her pigtailed fiancee was a snow-white tuxedo. The jacket possessed a tail which came to two tapered points with a slash which ran nearly to the beltline of the pants. The only black in the entire outfit were the pair of black dress shoes on the martial artist's feet, and a red rose sat tucked in his pocket. In deference to the formality of the occasion, and at Ukyou's urging, he'd even undone his pigtail and combed out his hair.

It explained why nobody gave him a second glance as they walked through the house, though Ukyou got a few disapproving stares as she walked through the crowd.

"I'm surprised nobody's recognized me yet." Ranma commented with a chuckle to his friend, and she returned the smile.

"To be fair, you've technically been dead for three years now. And it's not like anybody would recognize you with a tuxedo and your hair combed out even if they were expecting you," Ucchan retorted, briefly sticking out her tongue.

They found the newlyweds in the Tendo's livingroom, speaking quietly to one another. Shinnosuke's eyes flashed to the okonomiyaki chef and her guest, and Ranma was surprised to see a flash of recognition in his eyes. Akane turned to them both, though her gaze moved right past Ranma.

"There you are, Ukyou!" The bride exclaimed, stepping forward to hug her friend. "I'm glad you made it for the reception, at least. Kasumi said something about an emergency. Is everything alright? And who's your friend?"

"Geez, did they fix your memory only to break hers, Shinnosuke?" Ranma drawled, and he chuckled at the way Akane's jaw dropped. "I mean, it's only been three years since your wife's seen me."

"Well, they say the memory dims with age. And to be fair, aren't you supposed to be dead?" The guardian of Ryugenzawa asked, chuckling lightly.

"Well, I was trapped ten thousand years in the past. You know what it's like. You're minding your own business, and then outta nowhere some magic girl comes and wham, knocks your way home onto the cobblestones." Ranma finally turned his gaze to his former fiancee. "C'mon, Akane. Did you really think a little thing like being trapped in time would get me down?"

"Well, I..." Akane tried, and the formerly-pigtailed boy chuckled again as she searched for words. "We tried everything..."

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault," Ranma told her, and was surprised to find he felt no anger. Perhaps, he mused to himself, I'd already made my peace with things while I was waiting for Setsuna to fix the mirror. He turned his attention to Shinnosuke, sticking out a hand. "Honestly, I'm glad for you both."

After hesitating a moment, the man clasped his hand and they shook.

"Better him than P-chan or Kunou, eh Ranma?" Ukyou chuckled, causing Akane's face to darken with anger.

"Like I'd ever marry either of those dirty perverts," Akane snorted.

"Where are my parents? I'd like to say hi before I go, if I get the chance," Ranma noted. At the questioning look on Akane and Shinnosuke's faces, the blue-eyed youth took out the Nanban mirror. "I fixed this thing, but not in the way I wanted. I've got no control when or where I go, now."

The face of the mirror began to glow, and Ranma scowled as motes of light slowly began to fill the space between him and the trio.

"Damn it, not again!" He snarled. He looked at the trio. "Look, whatever it takes, I promise I'll come back. This ain't the last you've seen of me, whatever it takes!"

Ukyou tried to latch onto her best friend, and was thoroughly disappointed when he disappeared without taking her. The trio stood silently for a moment, noting the sudden attention of all the guests on the strange occurance.

The silence stretched, and Ukyou met Akane's eyes. The former tomboy was surprised to note no fear or sadness in the chef's eyes, only determination tinged with a bit of anger.

"That jackass better have my tuxedo when he comes back, or there's going to be hell to pay," the brunette noted solemnly to the bride, who stared in astonishment. Ukyou couldn't hold it any longer, and it wasn't long before all three were laughing helplessly.

oOo

Author's Notes:

I was originally just going to do a flashback to the funeral, but decided that having Ranma and Ukyou joke around with it as a way of relieving tension was a more original take on the subject, not to mention much funnier. It also allowed me to eliminate both Kuno and Ryouga as husband choices, foreshadowing the revelation of Shinnosuke as Ranma's usurper.

Admit it, I shocked you **all **with that one, not just for the initial surprise, but also in how accurate a choice it truly is. Nobody predicted it in the reviews. Oh, and given that I couldn't find a family name for Shinnosuke, I picked Kusao because that's the Japanese voice-actor's last name.

So, what's next? Well it's nigh time for this Ranma/Sailor Moon crossover to see the second of the two titular characters, I think. And how does the debut of Tuxedo Badass sound?

-Gaming Ikari

P.S. I'm now accepting requests for me to beta-read for others, and I'd happily accept beta-readers of my own.


	8. Chapter 8

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

Chapter 8

oOo

When the light cleared this time, Ranma had no hope of guessing where he was. Like the previous transitions, it felt near-instantaneous and left him facing a situation completely different from the one he'd left moments ago. He'd just been talking to Akane, Shinnosuke, and Ucchan.

Now he was watching a guy in a black tuxedo, complete with a mask, top hat and cape, jumping out of a jewelry store window, while inside the store there were signs of a commotion. The conclusion here was obvious... the man was a criminal.

More importantly, he was someone on whom Ranma could vent his frustrations. After the events he'd just experienced, he was more than happy to take Fate up on the offer. Two steps built up sufficient momentum for Ranma to launch himself through the air, in an arc which would take him directly into a collision with the caped thief.

He was mildly annoyed when his first strike was blocked. It hadn't been one of his better strikes, but this guy was good. Not anywhere close to the skill he had, of course, but the jerk certainly had a decent amount of strength and speed. Annoyance turned into outrage as the man grinned and somehow slipped past Ranma in midair, helping the white-clad youth into the window from which he'd just left.

The dark-clad man's salute, complete with a mocking grin, was just unnecessary, in Ranma's opinion. He planted his hands and tucked his body, flipping into the jewelry store, his eyes not once leaving his foe's.

"I'm not done with you yet, asshole!" Ranma yelled, planting a foot on the window sill and launching himself back out of the store. The guy had the audacity to laugh, further fueling Ranma's ire.

"I thought I was the only one with the good taste to run around in fashion like this," the young man noted while carefully keeping ahead of Ranma, much to the martial artist's annoyance. Whatever his skill level, he certainly had the speed and mobility to match the Anything Goes heir. He planted a foot on top of a streetlight, somehow turning ninety degrees without slipping or losing momentum. "Though really, didn't anyone ever tell you not to wear white after Labour Day?"

"I'm going to hit you until you crack open like a tuxedo'd pinata!" Ranma snarled, tucking in midair, one hand catching the verticle side of the light pole and the other grabbing the horizontal. This had the effect of allowing him to nearly duplicate his quarry's movement by swinging around the light pole and letting go, changing his direction nearly as fast though not nearly so casually. The move certainly seemed to surprise the man, who nearly stumbled as he vaulted over a billboard. "That's right, pal, you aren't losing me that easy!"

"Persistent, huh?" The man grinned, blue eyes glittering behind his white mask. Ranma cursed as his foe put on another burst of speed, using that same otherworldly grace to run along a wall as if he were exempt from gravity. Ranma was forced to carefully tumble through a fire escape to follow. That damned grin slipped as the masked man looked back, fueling Ranma's own. "Very persistent. You can't catch me, friend. I'd suggest giving up now."

"Oh, I'm gonna catch you alright," Ranma snarled with a feral smirk, doggedly closing the gap between the mismatched pair. "You're not gonna like what I do when I catch you, either!"

The formerly-pigtailed boy wasn't prepared for the young man to suddenly stop on top of a light pole. Ranma closed on him with a grin, cocking back a fist. With a casual movement, the man dropped off the pole, leaving Ranma with no target... except for the rapidly approaching pond.

"Next time, can you tell me what it is?"

And with the pigtailed boy's violent entry into the body of water the masked man disappeared, leaving Ranma fuming, cold, wet, and female... railing at the gods, the world, and particularly one man.

"There will be a reckoning!" the redhead swore as she climbed out of the pond. Pulling off Ucchan's tuxedo jacket and wringing it out, Ranma continued her rant. "There will be BLOOD!"

All over that idiot's stupid tuxedo and cape. If he was lucky, Ranma wouldn't make him eat that frigging top hat. But first things first. She had to find somewhere she could get dry. And most importantly... clothes which weren't wet, ill-fitting formal wear.

Shooting a surprised highschool student in sunglasses a glare, she stomped out of the park.

oOo

"Luna, I don't understand..." Usagi began tentatively. "Do you think maybe that white-suited guy was an enemy? He seemed awfully rude... and the way he went after the other guy was just plain vicious!"

"I'm not sure, but one thing's for certain... He certainly knows how to fight."

The blond girl nodded, glumly staring out the window. The whole thing had been so romantic, right up until that long-haired thug had bowled through the window and knocked her over. He hadn't even had the courtesy to NOTICE he'd knocked her down, before swearing and launching himself back out the window.

He had to be the enemy. Nobody on the side of Love and Justice could possibly be so... so... crass! Which meant that the civilized hunk in the black tuxedo was an ally.

She smiled. She could certainly live with that.

oOo

Ranma scowled to himself. Yesterday night's events certainly hadn't been pleasant, and the morning showed no signs of improvement. After acquiring a hot cup of tea and changing back to his proper form, Ranma realized that lacking a convenient shift from the mirror to someplace with which he was familiar, he had no place to stay.

He was in Tokyo, and could have reasonably tried to make his way back to Nerima... Except for the fact that by the time he discovered he was all the way in Minato ward, it was too late to start the trek. Not only that, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the mirror had shifted him from one portion of Tokyo to another for good reason and would take offense to any attempt at thwarting it's plans.

He spent the night sleeping lightly under the awning of a closed shop, awakened often by the sounds of pedestrian and automotive traffic. Waking up hungry, he tried to get back to Nerima anyway. A flash of light and a sudden pop dropped him right back near Juuban High, proving his theory about the mirror's intentions correct. He spent a good hour or so throwing the mirror into the stratosphere, canals, and brick walls as he stormed through the city as a way of venting his frustrations on the evil artifact.

His mood was not improved by a sudden burst of rain, nor the odd looks a redheaded girl in a poorly-fitting white tuxedo gets when she's walking around town muttering under her breath.

Finding over fifty thousand yen in an inner pocket, which would have easily covered a night's stay in a motel and a decent meal without making a dent in the amount was just adding insult to injury in the blue-eyed girl's opinion. The mirror seemed to glint smugly at the futile pounding Ranma visited on it.

"One day, mirror, you're going to be breakable again. If this time travel crap has taught me anything, one day you're going to wind up cracked and in Happosai's hands," Ranma grinned as she squeezed the mirror, hoping that it could understand her words. "I hope I get to make that crack. You'd better hope all I decided to do IS crack you. I owe you, mirror. Ranma Saotome doesn't forget a grudge."

Nearby pedestrians gave the strange girl a wide berth as she cackled to herself in the middle of the sidewalk.

oOo

And things had started to look up. That ridiculous tuxedo was now tucked inside a new backpack and Ranma was now wearing a pair of comfortable white slacks and a black, button-up collared shirt. She'd even replaced the ridiculous dress shoes with a proper pair of slippers. Then this jerk had come along.

"You're not serious, are you?" She asked.

There were a dozen- no, a hundred ways Ranma knew she could break the man in front of her. He stood with his back straight and his arms crossed tightly, all but inviting the redhead to take advantage of the possibility of violence against his extremities. Unflinching brown eyes met her own.

"You are serious." The pigtailed girl noted

A light touch here. Subtle pressure there. That was all it'd take to break the man.

"Damn it."

The truancy officer was unmoved.

"Look, I finished with high school years ago. There's no need for all this trouble!"

A slight grin.

"Ranko Saotome. You've been missing from school for a long time. But no matter how long, you can't escape me. I, Hinjo Satsuko, am the number one truancy officer. I've caught everyone and brought them to justice. Now, you can come with me, or suffer the consequences." The man's teeth sparkled with a feral grin and Ranma noted the narrowed black eyes. In that moment she knew he'd fight for this. Fight hard. Ranma knew she could win. She could probably get away.

Then again, maybe she was supposed to go with the man. For all she knew, maybe this was what the mirror wanted.

"Feh, fight if you want, Ranko Saotome. My Unwavering Discipline-style of martial arts will bring you to heel. You will finish your schooling."

"Is that a challenge?" Ranma's clipped tone bit off every word, and she noted the way the man's eyes narrowed. This was not an opponent to take lightly. Then again, neither was she. And no one, but no one, challenged the Saotome School of Anything Goes. "You gotta know, if you know my record... I ain't an easy target to take down."

"What would be the point of an easy target, Ranko Saotome!?" The man roared, folding his left leg tightly and lashing out with a reverse backhand. Ranma tilted her head back to avoid the blow before noticing the man's triumphant grin.

With a stomp right inside Ranma's guard that shattered pavement, the truancy officer stopped his spin dead. The position not only left the man unhindered by momentum, but gave him an excellent shot at Ranma's unprotected chin. The redhead slapped both hands against the man's massive forearms as the uppercut slammed into her chin, robbing it of it's monstrous power.

The pigtailed girl backflipped away from her opponent, now rubbing her jaw as she reconsidered him. That strike had had a lot of raw power behind it, almost on par with Ryouga the last time she'd fought him. And the way he rapidly shifted his feet meant he probably had a lot of surprising ways of gaining some leverage to use against a foe.

Ranma grinned.

"No Saotome will bow their head to the tyranny of a truancy officer. Ossan, I accept your challenge. Prepare to meet your first defeat. The only teacher who has ever contained me is the legendary Hinako Ninomiya, and she is also a practicioner of Anything Goes. You don't have a chance!"

"Don't make me laugh!" Hinjo roared.

One uniformed-leg slid after the other as the truancy officer spun towards Ranma once again. The pigtailed girl crouched tapping the reverse knuckle over her head with hand, while she drove the other fist into her foe's unprotected flank. The fist was intercepted at the last second by a solid palm, and the redheaded girl had a moment see her attacker's grin before...

BAM!

The martial artist tumbled crudeley through the air, dazed by Hinjo's elbow.

Ranma shook her head, locking eyes with her foe as she tumbled free of his attack. The man's eyes glittered with victory as he planted his hands, torquing his body to lance both feet at the blue-eyed youth. As her hands planted to give her leverage, the kicks connected with the Anything Goes heir, shoving her into a rocky trench, face leading the way.

"You see, Saotome?" The truancy officer laughed, watching the gender-switched teenager as she slowly regained her feet. "I am specifically trained to deal with combative students! You can't escape your classes!"

"Feh. You hit like an old lady I know," Ranma retorted, rubbing her jaw. That kick had packed a lot of force. Enough to make the pigtailed warrior wary of getting that close again before dazing him. She cracked her knuckles and crouched low. "Try that again, jerk."

Hinjo grinned at his target and charged, crouching at the last second and planting his hands. A sharp shove, as if he were trying to squeeze the pavement together, meant the strange motion turned his body into a spinning javelin. Ranma grunted as she dodged, the glancing blow enough to send her tumbling across the ground.

"I see what your trick is, pal," Ranma grunted, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth as she got to her feet. She gestured with a free hand at the large man. "You're all about hitting hard right in close, and doing it from an angle your foe doesn't expect. Which makes it a pretty good tactic for the first fight you have with someone.

"But, it also means you're a one trick pony. You don't have anything else except for some decent speed and strength. Your form is terrible," Ranma grinned, lowering her sense of balance. "Frankly, you don't stand a chance against me. Come on, let's finish this. I've got crap I wanna do today."

They both clashed one final time, a dramatic wind kicking up as they passed by one another in a flurry of blows. Ranma dropped to one knee with a grunt, coughing up flecks of blood.

"Your skills have not waned one bit since you ran away from Furinkan, Ranko Saotome," Hinjo declared, straightening up and turning to face the delinquent student. His eyes narrowed. "I was very surprised to see you here today. You're something of a legend to truancy officers everywhere. I'm glad I got to fight you.

"There's a girl in my van over there. Make sure you let her out before you wander off," Hinjo whispered, collapsing.

Ranma nodded to herself, walking over to the van. The rear compartment was completely windowless and quite sturdy. The pigtailed redhead opened the door, ready for any number of questions. She wasn't ready for the kick to the face which sent her sprawing, with nearly the same force as Hinjo's attacks.

The strength made a lot more sense when Ucchan stepped out of the van, but it left Ranma wondering when her eyes had turned green.

oOo

Author's Notes:

Like I said. I ain't nearly done messing with Ranma yet. I figure there's about a fifty fifty shot of people guessing where I'm going with this latest development.

At least I'm giving him decent fight scenes, right?

Right?

Alright. *rubs hands* I noticed quite a few people very eager for Mamoru's introduction, and I've no doubt disappointed you all thoroughly with my potrayal of him. I mean, I made him seem very cool there, didn't I? Almost like I was referring to him when I talked about the debut of Tuxedo Badass.

Yeah, well... he is Tuxedo Badass. You're probably all horribly confused by that statement, so let's set the record straight: Mamoru doesn't throw a single damned rose throughout the **entire manga**. He also proves to be pretty useful throughout the series, removing several major foes and contributing significantly in several key battles. When you add all that to the fact he's only three years older than Usagi, well... He becomes a respectable badass instead of cradle-robbing dead weight.

He's no Ranma, but really... who is? I'm willing to cut a support character from a shoujo manga some slack when comparing him to the protagonist of a shounen manga. Yes, he frequently gets put into a position where the senshi have to save his ass but I attribute this solely to a lack of available targets: Ranma has many more support characters that become possible targets than the senshi.

That said, part of the delay with this chapter was my worries about going against the general grain of the fandom in such a large way. Then I thought to myself, "I'm writing this story, not the fandom" and my worries vanished.

-Gaming Ikari


	9. Chapter 9

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

oOo

Chapter 9

oOo

Makoto Kino was not having a good day. One doesn't start the day after an expulsion with a hopeful outlook, afterall. She'd spent the early morning training before wandering around town. It was then she learned that she was, in fact already enrolled in a new school, by way of a challenge from a truancy officer.

It was just another sign of her poor luck that the man was the sort of ludicrously well-trained martial artist her mother had told her bedtime stories about. Tales of men who could shatter pavement with their fists, strike hundreds of blows in a second, and even use the force of their will as an attack. That man, Hinjo Satsuko, had overcome her defences in his bid to take her to class.

Her last year at Junior High, and it started with a defeat. The brunette couldn't help but wonder what the outcome would have been if she'd had her family's style of weapons handy. Heck, even some of the rudimentary ninjutsu tools her father had trained her to handle would have shifted the balance. She wasn't as adept at using those as she was with her family's unique style but the difference probably would have allowed her to escape.

Instead, because she was unprepared, she was stranded in an iron box. Sweltering, late-summer heat promised to make an extended stay in the prison-turned-oven unbearable. Her best strikes had done little to dislodge the door, and the tall girl had reluctantly stopped her assault on the opening leaving only light dents on the surface. Each hit had the minor possibility of jamming the door in place, preventing even an eventual release.

Time had stretched and been skewed in the dark solitude of the containment unit from the first time the lock clicked shut until that moment, right then, that it clicked back open. Determined not to remain a prisoner, the agile girl flung herself against the front-facing end of the portable cell, coiling her muscles in anticipation of delivering a powerful surprise blow.

As soon as daylight began to filter into the sweltering prison, she threw her whole body into a powereful side kick, left heel finding leverage in the corner of her prison while she drove her right heel into her captor's jaw.

Or at least, that was her plan. It would have worked flawlessly but for one unanticipated, yet centrally vital detail: The person who opened the back door of the van was not the truancy officer slash martial artist who'd captured her in the first place. The girl she'd aimed her kick at wasn't prepared for any attack in the slightest.

Heck, Makoto's poor target didn't even have time to flinch before she was struck square in the jaw.

The redhead who took the kick and bounced across the pavement clearly hadn't anticipated a pre-emptive strike by a nominal prisoner. Makoto clapped her hands to her cheek as the black-shirted girl dropped to the pavement with a rough cough and then, to the tall girl's surprise, a mild glare.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Though the professionally-inclined chef would have sworn nobody could stand up to her kick, it was rather disturbing to see her unfortunate target roll to her feet and then shake off the kick with a casual toss of her crimson pigtail. The green-eyed girl considered herself to be relatively worldly for her age, her mother's bedtime stories having cushioned her for the more fantastical side of reality, but... Seeing someone like that for the first time was rumbling her preconceptions around a bit.

She'd hit few people this hard, ever. Every time she'd ever pushed herself to that extent before, her opponent had been knocked down and then stayed down. The last time she'd exerted herself to this extent had left her foe unable to move for months, locked up in traction. That had been expulsion number two.

Hell, Hinjo would have been put down, and stayed down, by a strike of that power.

Yet... This girl was grinning at her as if the immeasurable blow were an honest mistake, easily brushed off. Like an attack capable of splintering concrete and bending steel were a casual slap between friends, easily brushed off.

"Nice kick," the redhead commented after a moment of mutual wariness, relaxing into a light slouch. To a casual observer, the girl would seem to be totally defenseless. To someone trained in the highest level of martial arts, she presented a perfectly defensible stance, able to deflect any attack while denying her opponent any openings at the same time. The blue-eyed girl grinned, crouching low. "Now it's my turn."

The tall girl scowled, sliding her feet apart just a little. The van at her back precluded any straight retreat, making the match unfavourable to begin with even if she didn't take into account her foe's readily-apparent durability. Or whatever other abilities might account for her being the one to open the van up in the first place.

"Look, I'm sorry I kicked you like that. This doesn't need to be a fight, okay?" Though Makoto made the offer in good faith, she didn't really expect her opponent to accept. Everything about the girl struck her as... well, _eager_ to fight. As if the concept of two people trying their best to do one another harm were nothing more than some enjoyable game.

The pigtailed girl grinned at her offer; the smile was feral and full of energy.

"Don't worry about it," the girl returned, standing up straight and waving her hand. The smile she offered the Kino heir was light-hearted, full of mirth. "You ain't given me anything I haven't had before. Saying your sorry is good enough for me."

"Really?" The green-eyed girl was naturally suspicious. The sort of kick she'd just performed would have shattered bones in the average person. Even a veteran fighter would have been cowed by the strength of the blow, let alone it's speed or accuracy. What sort of girl, especially one only a couple years older than her, was able to just shrug off that sort of attack?

"Like I said, don't worry about it!" The girl offered, scratching the base of her pigtail with an innocent blush. "I'm a pretty good martial artist myself, and I shoulda expected you'd be trying to get free whenever that idiot Shinjo opened the door. Heck, anybody else but me probably would have been tossed in that van with you!"

"Well, aren't we confident?" The tall girl chuckled, crossing her arms. The short redhead's grin never dropped as she joined in. Makoto closed the distance leaning in to meet the girl's gaze. "Tell you what, why don't we go back to my place? I can fix us something to eat, and then you can show me just how good you really are.

"Unless, of course, you were actually supposed to dodge that kick," the brunette finished.

"Sorry lady," the girl offered with a shy smile, "I don't think any cooking in the world's good enough to dull my instincts enough to give you the victory."

The green eyed girl grinned. Her mother had told her many times that the family recipe was capable of quelling even the best of the best, just based on it's unique combination of preparation and ingredients. She recalled how, in her youth, her mother had had her memorize the method as much as she'd been made to memorize the characters of the alphabet, so important was the knowledge.

For no recipe could quell a foe quite like this. It could tame a fighter capable of slaying a god, or so she'd been told. This, she resolved, would be an okonomiyaki the redhead would never forget.

oOo

Ranma was, to say the least, suspicious about the tall girl's motives. In the past, girls who'd attacked her with that sort of strength before getting friendly had been, to a one, BAD news. Nobody was this kind unless they had an ulterior motive of some sort. Nevertheless, the pigtailed girl followed the taller girl to her home and tried her best to shake off the recurring hunch that she knew the lithe brunette.

This girl wasn't Ucchan, and she wasn't ten thousand years old. That blew out both possibilities right then and there. Besides, he knew this girl couldn't be Ukyou Kounji, no matter how much she might have resembled his best friend. For one thing, Ucchan didn't have green eyes.

For another, Ucchan had never been taller than her. His chestnut-haired friend had, at most, boasted an inch or two more height than her girl form but this girl, she stood nearly half a foot taller. Heck, the redhead wasn't certain her male form was taller than the girl, and only Kasumi had ever held that distinction over the Saotome heir.

Even Nabiki had only been eye-level at best, and she'd been a tall girl herself

Ranma smiled at the tall brunette accepting the warm cup of tea with a smile. Habit, and the weight hanging off her front chest, made her tip a small portion of that tea over her head. The pigtailed boy sighed a breath of relief before noting that his gracious host had noted his transformation.

Her eyes widened and her face went pale. Her jaw slowly dropped as her gaze wandered from Ranma's subtlely changed face, to the more prominent absense on his chest. The girl's green eyes wandered back up to Ranma's blue, pausing for an instant, before rolling back to investigate the inside of her skull.

Catching the girl as she crumpled forward, Ranma shrugged to himself as he dismissed the extreme response of his new acquaintance. For those unused to the curse of Jusenkyou, the change was downright shocking, he supposed. With a sigh, the pigtailed youth gently lowered the girl to the floor resolved to eat the wonderful meal the girl had prepared and then he'd be on his way.

His resolve lasted only as long as it took to raise his chopsticks to his mouth.

The first bite he took, he knew he had to stay. No matter how long ago mundane time had said it'd been since a meal of this caliber had been served, he'd tasted okonomiyaki this good just a day before. It was a Ranchan special, he noted with a careful eye: From the amount of pepper right down to the four shrimp spread evenly over the surface.

If he hadn't seen it prepared, he would have sworn his best friend had prepared the meal herself. Closing his eyes, he could have sworn he was perched on one of Ucchan's stools in her self-named restaurant. Only the girl's height and total lack of recognition told Ranma that the woman who'd prepared his meal was not his best friend.

This couldn't be any mere coincidence. Sure, he'd seen enough coincidence to last him several lifetimes, but this was different. This had to be the mirror's doing. Just like his last jump, something told him this was something more. There was something he had to do here.

He quickly finished his meal, then scooped the girl up and took her into her bedroom. When she woke up, he had a lot of questions... and he was certain she'd have answers.

oOo

Usagi grinned at her new companion, the magic of her attack fading along with the demon she'd just killed. It was nice to have a friend now. Someone to share the burden of the quest to find the Ginzuishou. Someone to help her battle the forces of evil using the power of Love and Justice.

And, she noted to herself as Luna explained the girl's role, someone she could steal notes off of so she wouldn't get quite so terrible grades.

oOo

Awareness was slow to return to Makoto, fluttering at the edge of her dreams. She struggled to remember... But the last clear thought she had had to have been a dream. Ranma Saotome himself, come back from somewhere else and near her age, to boot?

Definately a dream.

No way was she so lucky that the hero from her mom's bedtime stories would just drop out of the sky and into her lap. Figuratively speaking.

She let a light yawn, stretching her arms. She then blinked. And blinked again.

What had happened yesterday? Why had she gone to sleep in her uniform? Her mind struggled to come up with an answer as she sat up. A head poked into the room, silky black bangs framing concerned blue eyes while a pigtail swung gently from the motion.

"Gah!"

The young man blushed, stepping into the room. After a moment of awkward silence, he finally offered, "I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."

Underneath her covers, Makoto pinched her thigh. Nope, not dreaming.

"I was wondering... How do you know how to cook like Ucchan?" The black-haired boy asked, and Makoto paused. He knew her mother's nickname. This couldn't be a prank. Back when she was a kid, her mother had always joked that her Ranchan had left on another great adventure last time she'd seen him, and the chances were that he could reappear at any time.

Makoto had always assumed it was a joke, anyway. Apparently not.

"You're really Ranma Saotome and not some relative of his? The same Ranma Saotome who fought Saffron, Herb, and Ryouga? The same guy who knew Ukyou Kounji?" Makoto finally asked, still unsure. The last time her mother had seen the guy had been over a decade ago.

"Yeah. So how's Ucchan doing these days, anyway? Are you her cousin or something?" The boy asked. Makoto couldn't believe her ears. How could he not know? If this was the same man, he had to remember. She distinctly remembered him holding her in his arms when she was young and tugging at one of his bangs.

"Don't recognize me?" Makoto asked, leaning in closer. Wait. There was a small difference. The taller girl leaned in, brushing the bangs away from his face and ignoring the way he blushed. It wasn't there. "What happened to your scar, daddy?"

"Scar?" Ranma asked, pausing. Then his eyes went blank and his voice grew shrill. "Wait, whaddaya mean daddy!?"

"It should really be obvious, daddy," Makoto told the boy, arching one eyebrow. "You and mom, well, y'know... and then I came along! Mom always told me not to hold you never being around against you because you were cursed or something. But it's wierd, why are you back here now?"

Thud, Ranma's form announced as the boy's blue eyes rolled up and the shock claimed him.

"Damn," Makoto groaned, picking the young man up.

She didn't remember her father being so emotional.

oOo

A few hours later, Ranma was sitting across the table from the tall brunette. The girl who said she was both his and Ucchan's.

"Wait, so you're saying I married Ucchan?" Ranma asked, running the scenario through his mind. The idea of marrying his best friend was... wierd. Okay, maybe not wierd. She was kinda cute, and it's not like he didn't get along with her... but he just couldn't picture himself marrying her.

Yet the girl sitting across from him, well... Now that he looked closer, he could see elements of his cursed side in the girl. The slight angle of her face was one prominant feature, now that he got a closer look, not to mention her... talent. Ukyou hadn't had that.

"Well, sorta. The thing is, you never actually stuck around long enough to marry her," the girl muttered with a blush, and Ranma felt his own face heat up at the admission. Not only was this girl his daughter, she was apparently his illegitimate daughter. The girl's green eyes met his. "Mom never blamed you for it. She said it wasn't really something you could control. Something about a mirror?"

"This," Ranma told his daughter, pausing to shake his head at the foreign thought. He slid the Nanban mirror across the table. "That little trinket can't be destroyed or seperated from me. It also flips me around time."

"Wow," the tall girl sighed, picking the item up. After a moment, it faded from her hands and her father reached behind his back to pull it once more from his waistband. "Well, that explains why mom seemed so much more mature than you. I thought she was making excuses when she told me you weren't able to control yourself."

"It sucks," Ranma snorted, crossing his arms. "I dunno when or where I'm gonna wind up next. Heck, I don't even know where I am most of the time."

He paused, shaking his head. "Now I know how Ryouga feels."

"So, what do you want to know, daddy?" The tall student asked quietly, and Ranma winced slightly.

"Well, I guess we can start with where Ucchan is now. I kinda noticed that this place is rather small. Only one bed. Is she living somewhere else?" The pigtailed boy pondered, scratching his chin.

"Mom... Well, the thing is... " the girl was hesitant.

"What is it? Just say it already!" Ranma demanded impatiently.

"My mom died years ago," Makoto finally said in a quiet voice. Ranma's mouth went dry and he shook his head. Somber green eyes met his own. "She died in an airplane crash when I was young. And the thing is, daddy, so did you."

"At least I was with her. Or will be, I guess," Ranma muttered quietly, his grip tightening on the mirror. The damned thing just seemed to take and take and give nothing back. He wasn't even able to know his own daughter before he met her, all grown up. He stalked over to the window, opening it gently before hurling the mirror away.

"I thought you said you couldn't lose it," Makoto noted, curiousity breaking the quiet tension in her voice.

"I can't. Makes me feel a little better, though," Ranma spat, reaching behind his back and once again throwing the mirror into the sky with all of his might. The silence stretched, broken only by the occasional hum of the mirror through the air. He finally tossed the mirror one last time before speaking. "Is Ucchan's grave nearby?"

"Yeah," the green eyed girl said, standing.

"Then let's go see her," Ranma said, casually shifting the mirror into a more comfortable position.

oOo

The walk to the cemetary was awkward and quiet. Makoto knew that her father had never been good at expressing his emotions, but the young man in front of her was a brick wall. She only saw the pain flaring in his eyes occassionally. He'd been incredibly terse with the clerk while buying the flowers, spinning and walking away before the poor girl had even finished saying goodbye.

When the clerk commented about what a rude jerk her boyfriend was, the tall brunette had stammered a denial and an apology before quickly moving to catch up to the man who would become her father.

Date Ranma Saotome? Her stomach twitched unpleasantly at the thought. Sure, she could see how her mom could have been attracted to the youth, but... He was her father.

"It's over here," Makoto told the martial artist, guiding him between rows to come to the resting place of her parents. She noted the incredible strangeness of him standing at his own grave with a small smile, remembering all of her mother's stories about the improbable situations he'd always found himself caught up in.

This certainly counted. The brunette rubbed her arms, noting with some shock that frost had started to creep up her parent's gravestone. Such cold weather this early in September was incredibly strange.

"Can... Can I have a few minutes alone?" Ranma asked, and the girl nodded. For Makoto, the pain was years old and buried. She could remember her mother with fondness now. For her father, this was a fresh wound, torn open barely half an hour ago.

She strode away, waiting. The young man reached into his backpack, pulling out a rumpled white tuxedo and gently folded it, placing it in front of the grave. He placed the small bundle of flowers on top, before standing and speaking quietly. When he was finished, he spun on one heel and strode in the green-eyed teenager's direction.

"Daddy, why did you leave that suit?" Makoto asked, glancing over her shoulder before following the young man's determined pace.

"Just returning something that I borrowed," Ranma noted quietly.

They left, while a distinct chill lingered in the graveyard for some time afterward.

oOo

Author's Notes:

My apologies to anyone who was hoping for a Makoto/Ranma fic here. I think at this point it'd be a little squicky to go for, huh? It should be obvious by now that Makoto had a slightly different upbringing than her canonical counterpart (man, is that fun to say or what?).

Just a clarification: Even in the loose "canon_"_ I'm slowly establishing for this story, Ranma is somewhere in between Mamoru and the Senshi in terms of raw power output. Whether his _fighting ability_ eclipses theirs is dependant on innumerable factors. Ranma could probably whip Hotaru's pasty little ass like nothing else, for example, unless Hotaru truly believes there's a fate-of-the-world type fight coming while Ranma's still unaware and a block away.

_Then _the poor, pigtailed bastard probably won't know what hit him.

Gaming Ikari


	10. Chapter 10

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

oOo

Chapter 10

oOo

Rei Hino stared at the two girls standing before her, her mind a churning pit of emotion. With the use of that transformation pen her rigid, spiritual life had been fundamentally shaken. Despite all the years she'd dedicated to plunging the depths of the Shinto religion, she was now tasked with a desperate war, the existence of which called into question her beliefs.

Despite the broadly smiling blond and her azure-haired companion, the newly-raised Sailor Mars felt nothing but trepidation concerning her new duty.

oOo

Makoto Kino ducked under the vicious swipe. This thing was a monster! What sort of demon could possibly move this fast, be this strong? A follow up combination saw the girl cross her arms in a block and willingly abandon her footing, bleeding the momentum of the horribly powerful attack in a backwards roll. The girl planted her feet and hands, springing back to a standing position as she gazed into cold, merciless eyes.

Martial arts was one thing, but this... This was on an entirely different level. Would she even survive?

"Hey, don't tell me that's all you've got," the demon she was facing breathed, a low chuckle sending shivers down the girl's spine. The sound was feral, not of this world. "I'm not even using a quarter of my strength."

The brunette's lip quivered as she stared down her foe.

"Come on, daddy, be fair... Not everyone had to fight off every freakishly strong person on the planet like you did," Makoto countered, ducking under a leaping kick and spinning in an attempt to catch her opponent off guard, before he could land and regain his balance. Her father caught her foot with a grin, deftly sliding under the attack and tagging the girl's ankle.

Makoto planted her hands and tucked into a forward roll that was cut painfully short by a foot planted firmly on her stomach.

"No daughter of mine is gonna be anything but the best if she's going to be a martial artist. If you'd decided that martial arts weren't your thing, that'd be fine. But since you've clearly been training pretty hard already, it's time I kick that training up a notch," Ranma grinned, and Makoto groaned. She remembered her mother's tales of her father's childhood training and how horrific it had been. Even if he was willing to tone it down, it was still mind-wrenchingly terrible to consider.

Then again... It'd be nice to be able to be strong. Strong enough to compare to her old boyfriend. The bastard had the audacity to walk out on her and never come back. Her bad mood following that event had been expulsion number one.

She nodded to her father. Time to start training in earnest.

With a loud kiai and a sudden twist of her body, she robbed her father of his footing for the half-second it took the girl to roll on to her stomach, plant her hands, and spring to her feet. As soon as the balls of her feet touched the ground she was forced to block a strong roundhouse which sent her sliding back.

Her grin matched her father's, and she charged in.

oOo

Usagi woke up after a pleasant dream. She ignored Luna's rantings about her duty and about the dangers Tuxedo Mask presented. After all, if he was so bad... He wouldn't have saved her life like he had.

He wouldn't have helped.

He couldn't be the enemy. Especially not when compared to the rude white-clad boy. She was sure she'd be seeing him again. Something told her it was destined. Some memory at the back of her mind told her he was familiar, just like her memory told her Tuxedo Mask was familiar.

She felt no warm memories where the pigtailed boy was concerned, however.

Her thoughts were distracted as she left her home on her way to school.

oOo

"How is this educational, again?" Makoto asked, sitting next to her father and dubiously eyeing the flickering screen in front of her. The Crown Arcade didn't seem like the best place to learn about the highest techniques of martial arts. Especially not a game made by Capcom.

"I'll have you know that the Street Fighter series is a gold mine of information... And now that the new game is out, it's time to see if there's anything worth swiping," Ranma noted with a chuckle. At the doubtful look on his daughter's face, Ranma held up one palm and pointed it at an empty soda can sitting on the floor. "Hadoken."

A miniature Moko Takabisha rocketed from his hand to smack into the can, spinning it rapidly across the ground. The doubtful look on the tall brunette's face vanished instantly.

"I didn't really think about it much until I saw Street Fighter II way back when I was in my second year of high school. Then I saw E. Honda's hundred hand slap and realized that some of the specials in the game are stuff just like what I can do," Ranma chuckled, inserting a one hundred yen coin into the slot at the machine. "Most of the time I can't figure out how to make the crap work anyway, but occasionally something sparks an idea. Hey sweet, a new character!"

"Daddy, I don't think you're going to learn anything from someone named Crimson Viper," Makoto noted dryly, though she sat down to watch anyway. After a moment the introductary cutscene faded to the first match, and her father started to enter random combinations and note their effects. He stood up with a broad grin after losing two rounds in a row. "What, that's it? I thought you'd make a better showing than that."

"I got all I needed from those two rounds," Ranma retorted, cackling to himself as they exited the entertainment center. It wasn't long before they arrived at the abandoned lot they'd been practicing at earlier. "Okay now, stand back. Last time I tried to mimic something from a video game it didn't turn out so good. Or I guess you could say it did, but it hurt."

He paused for a moment, a wince on his face, before adding, "A lot."

Makoto nodded, quickly stepping back to the edge of the lot. She'd seen enough of her mother's practice as a kid to know just how devestating some martial arts techniques could be, and her father's sparring session with her had only reinforced the message.

"Alright, now if I remember correctly, that redheaded chick in the game was able to blast away her opponents by slamming her fist into the ground. So maybe if I channel some of my chi into the ground as I hit it..." Ranma mused, staring at his fist thoughtfully.

He jumped up and focused, dumping the chi through his knuckles and into the ground next to a rusted barrel. The abused container blasted away and Ranma began to grin in victory when he felt the pressure slam into his body as well, blasting him dozens of feet into the air in an uncontrolled tumble. He was just beginning to shake off the effects of the blow when gravity reasserted itself, and only had time to scream a short protest before landing face first on the ground.

"Owwww..."

"Are you alright, daddy?" Makoto asked, wincing at the glazed look in her father's eyes. Rather than respond, the young man opted instead to simply pass out. "So, no?"

The girl sighed. Carrying him back to her apartment wasn't going to be fun.

oOo

Usagi wasn't one for paying attention to her surroundings, especially not when she had so much on her mind. Thus, she could perhaps be forgiven for missing the 'Do Not Walk' signal flashing on the pedestrial signal.

Even she could hear the frantic honking and the skidding tires of the car rapidly approaching her. She had only time to flinch before warm arms enfolded her and lifted with impressive strength, and the blond girl flinched at the quiet thud of her heels tapping the roof of the car as it sped by.

As she was set down gently, she couldn't help but note the girl's clean scent, the chestnut brown hair, the beautiful rose earrings the girl wore. Even the odd uniform the girl wore suited her, long skirt complimenting equally long legs. Everything but the tall girl's mere presence seemed to dim in the face of her saviour's grace.

"That was close," the brunette commented, bending down to pick up a young, dark-haired man of average height. "Be careful, okay?"

Usagi nodded, watching as the girl rounded the corner.

"Usagi, didn't you notice?" Luna demanded, nudging the girl with her head.

"Notice what?" Usagi asked, tilting her eyes away from the tall girl to the black cat on her shoulder. The cat let out a exasperated sigh.

"The boy. Didn't you recognize him!?" The cat demanded. "I did based just on your description of him!"

It finally dawned on her. The young man had had a pigtail. She raced around the corner and cast her gaze around the street, hoping to find her savior, only to discover that she'd disappeared along with the blond's target.

oOo

"Urrrgh..." Ranma groaned, consciousness slowly returning. 'Note to self: exploding undirected chi right in front of yourself equals pain. Bogard has it right in King of Fighters... and that redhead has as much connection to reality as a fairy tale does.'

The pigtailed boy sat up, noting that he was in his daughter's bed. He noticed a note on the bedside table and picked it up.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Daddy,

I had to go to Juuban Junior High. I'm going to be late thanks to your little adventure this morning, but oh well. It's my first day anyway, so I'm sure they won't mind too much. The fact the store didn't have uniforms my size will probably be a bigger deal... Let alone my natural hair colour.

I made extras when I was making my bento this morning and they're in the fridge. I should be home by about four o'clock or so. See you then!

-Mako-chan

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brightening at the prospect of food, the blue-eyed youth scrambled out of bed and hurried into the kitchen. He was into his third spiced riceball when he noticed the tied bento on the counter. With a groan, the pigtailed boy's eyes traveled up to the clock over the stove and noted it would be noon in ten minutes.

Cursing parental instincts he didn't even know he possessed, he quickly popped three pieces of maki salmon in his mouth before bounding out the door, bento in hand. If he remembered correctly, he could still make it to his daughter's school in time for her to eat her lunch.

The streets were a blur as Ranma moved over the sidewalk, building enough speed to launch himself skyward with the aid of a mailbox. He made good time moving across the low-slung rooftops of Minato's shop district, keeping a wary eye out for office buildings or apartments which were easier to circle around than jump over.

In no time at all he'd cleared the distance between the apartment and the school, bounding over the surrounding trees and landing in the baseball field. He was just in time to see his daughter turn to see a ball right before it colliding with the face of some blond with frustratingly familiar hair. An instant before it struck it's target, Makoto backhanded it along nearly the same path it had travelled.

Nearly was enough to slam the ball right into Ranma's cheek with enough force to unbalance him. As his consciousness swam, he saw his daughter's eyes widen and she rushed over. He dropped onto his ass as the tall girl slid to a stop by his side.

"Brought your lunch," Ranma explained to both his daughters, holding both lunches out. As she took the lunch, her eyes widened.

"Daddy, why are you glowing?" The green eyed girls asked. Ranma puzzled the comment for a moment, fighting off the inky darkness by sheer dint of will. The momentary heat at his lower back finally clued him in.

"Crap, not agai-" The white flash brough unconsciousness.

oOo

"My Queen, we appear to have a... visitor," the hesitation and tone of voice left no doubt to anyone who heard it that the last word was said with a certain amount of distaste.

"Oh?" Serenity looked up from some of her paperwork, quirking an eyebrow at the Senshi of Neptune. She cupped one elegant hand in front of herself and balanced her chin on it. "And who could possibly irritate you enough to warrant that tone while still garnering enough respect to be called a visitor?"

"The Saotome boy," the Senshi of Uranus added with a smirk, one which earned a dirty look from her partner. "The newly raised Inners are fighting over who gets to nurse him back to health. He appeared right in the middle of the practice yard, and if he wasn't unconscious when he got here, my World Shaking versus Mars' Fire Soul certainly remedied that."

"Well, let's go visit, shall we? I wonder what he's been up to these last five years?" Serenity grinned as she stood, pushing her now-uninteresting paperwork to the side. Treaties could always be signed later.

oOo

Author's Notes:

After the downer that was the last chapter's conclusion, I felt I had to do something a little more light-hearted. This is Ranma, and while I'm certainly piling one shot after another into the poor boy's weak spots, I don't want this story to wander into non-stop angstville.

If anyone's wondering how Makoto was able to knock out Ranma with the ball, I'll gladly explain: the Senshi can momentarily tap into their powered-up states at certain times, even in their civilian forms. The power of Jupiter combined with Makoto's regular strength in backhanding the ball back along it's path, striking Ranma like the fist of an angry god. As he wasn't prepared for the strike, it was enough to catch the haplass jerk unaware.

I threw in the SFIV reference because I picked the game up the other weekend. I doubt it'll really come into play much... It was just there to lighten the tone a bit and kill time for Rei's introduction to the Senshi and to fill the chapter out enough to get to the next bit.

The next chapter, well... whenever I think about it, I actually cackle to myself. Hehe... Huhohahah HA HAAA!

Gaming Ikari


	11. Chapter 11

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

oOo

Chapter 11

Quick note: I've posted two chapters in the last twenty four hours, so you should probably hit Chapter 10 first if you haven't yet read it.

oOo

The pigtailed boy's sense of touch returned first, slowly edging into the blackness of his mind. He was lying on the soft turf, presumably still in the school field. His head was pillowed in someone's lap, and a gentle hand stroked his hair. Another set of hands had his black shirt open, he assumed to check for injuries. Along with these sensations was the sting of his cheek where the baseball had hit him, along with a set of bruises along one side of his ribs... and most odd of all, burns along his flank.

Smell came next. The strong scent of roses, overlayed with a myriad mix of clean air and light perfumes. It struck him as odd that so many delicate fragrances would be on a baseball field, but he'd experienced stranger things... like being able to dress four guys in drag in the middle of an overgrown forest, farther from a cosmetics store than any school on the planet.

Taste returned next, and Ranma's tongue felt the dry, coppery tang of blood on the side of his mouth where the baseball struck. He hoped the blow hadn't loosened a tooth.

Hearing followed on the heels of taste, a dull echo of quiet voices, all familiar. That struck him as distinctly odd, as he knew only one girl in the entire school... and she was the one urging the others to hush. He couldn't place where he recognized the four or five other voices, but some niggling thought at the back of his mind.

His eyes opened, and he found himself staring into the concerned and leering eyes of his daughter. His mind was starting to process just what was so horribly wrong with the situation when she spoke.

"You're cute when you're confused," Makoto told him, and Ranma could only blink in amazement. Yeah. Something was certainly wrong with this situation. Maybe he'd been hit on the head harder than he'd thought and he was just seeing things that weren't there and mishearing the words that were being said to him.

His daughter couldn't be hitting on him. No way, no how. That'd be just gro-

The tall girl bent forward, pressing her breasts into the top of his face and kissed him full on the mouth. She even slipped her tongue in when his jaw slackened in surprise. After a moment in which Ranma lay in stunned silence, the girl leaned back with a decidedly smug smirk on her face, her eyes darting to meet a decidedly familiar blond girl who was pouting.

"I think you broke the poor boy," a voice called from the left, and Ranma recognized Sailor Uranus. It was then that his mind finally caught up with the rapid, confusing pace of events in the last few minutes and decided that he needed to freak out a little.

His daughter had just french-kissed him.

"GAH!" Ranma yelped, rolling to his feet and accidently knocking over a fuku-clad Mercurian princess who managed to snag his shirt off of him during her fall. He stumbled a few steps away, pointing a shocked finger at his progeny. "You! What! Me! Kissing!? What's your problem, Makoto!?"

Uproarious laughter from his left greeted the shocked look on the brunette's face at the declaration.

"Isn't that a shame, girls? A good-looking guy finally comes along and he likes boys just as much as you all do!" A giggling Uranus sputtered, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye with one white-clad hand. "You should see the look on your faces!"

"Maybe last time his problem wasn't with a girl dating another girl, but the concept of dating any girl at all?" Michiru pondered with a delicate smile.

"No, I just don't want my own daughter kissing me!" Ranma retorted. His mind, ever slow to catch up to events, now processed everything that had happened since scrambling out of Makoto's lap. "Wait, I'm back on the moon now?"

"I'm not your daughter!" The princess of Jupiter pouted, crossing her arms where she sat, pressing down the bow of her fuku. "Why would you think I'm your daughter!?"

"Well, now that you look a little older and have your hair in that ponytail, you look exactly like her!" Ranma muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and glaring up at the sky. "You've even got the same damned name as her!"

"Obviously all of that is because you married me and my good genes will carry over to our child," Makoto said with a leer, eyes travelling across Ranma's shirtless torso. She stood, and Ranma noted with some annoyance that she was just as tall as his daughter as well. "So come over here and give me a kiss."

"Nope. I already know you're not the mom and she ain't gonna be born for thousands of years, yet." Ranma said with a growl, crossing his arms and trying not to feel too grossed out by his daughter's doppleganger eyeing him like a hunk of prime rib.

"No fair, you didn't tell us you were married," the princess of Venus pouted, clasped hands resting on the orange skirt of her fuku. "I guess that explains why you were so reluctant to talk to us last time you visited."

"He wasn't hesitant to talk to all of us," the princess of Mercury said in a frosty tone, standing and brushing the grass off her white bodysuit. She strode slowly over to Ranma, handing him his shirt. "How come you never mentioned your wife during all of that time we spoke?"

"Who said anything about a wife? I didn't marry her, okay!" Ranma said defensively, sliding the shirt on. He'd done up the third button when he realized two things: His latest comment had not warrented a reply, and he could now feel the deadly weight of several female gazes broadsiding his skull. He glanced up and realized he probably hadn't phrased the comment in the best way. "Uh..."

"So you're like a sailor, but instead of a lover in every port, it's a lover in every time period?" Ami asked frostily, and Ranma tried to take a step back as she took a step forward, but was too slow to prevent her from catching the front of his shirt in a deceptively gentle grasp. "So were you planning on ever telling me about your family, or was it something you just happened to forget?"

"It's a time travel thing, okay? The first time I ever met my own damned daughter I find out her mom and I died a decade before whenever the hell I was!" Ranma frantically pleaded, grabbed the mirror from behind his back, waving it in the air. "Remember the whole uncontrollable time travel thing?"

"He's right, girls," Serenity noted with a delighted laugh, entering from one of the main doorways into garden. She crossed the grass as Ami let go of the pigtailed boy's shirt and took a few steps back, pausing to look her one-time savior in the eyes. "All of their suitors combined have drawn less of their ire than you've managed to warrant in just five minutes. That's an impressive talent."

"I just wish I could stop impressing people," Ranma grumbled, tossing the mirror on the ground. The girls broke their glares as the mirror dissolved into motes of white light, causing the blue-eyed youth to chuckle at them. "It does that."

"Girls, I think I'd like to catch up with my friend for a little while. He's obviously had some adventures since we last saw one another and I'd like to hear about them," The silver-haired monarch strode beside her guest, both hands resting lightly on one elbow. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Unless you've got any questions for them?"

"Er, I guess..." Ranma said, scratching the base of his pigtail with his free hand. He finally pointed at the inner senshi. "How come they all got older and you and those two didn't? Did you three time travel too?"

The frosty looks directed at him returned, with interest.

"Hey, it's a fair question!" Ranma protested with a scowl in the senshi's direction.

"A very impressive talent," Serenity noted with a broad grin, leading the pigtailed boy away, Uranus' laughter trailing them as they left the garden.

oOo

The four inner senshi stood silently, listening to both of their seniors laughing in amusement. Uranus made no attempt to be dignified or demure, and was only a small step away from keeling over with her laughter. Neptune was kind enough to limit her own display to a light chuckle, yet it seemed to sting their pride just as badly.

"He has a daughter..." Minako finally groaned, watching the pigtailed boy walk away. She crossed her arms with a huff, shooting a sidelong glare at the tallest of the inner Senshi. "You know, you've made this a lot more awkward than it had to be."

"Like it's my fault I look like his daughter?" Makoto returned, gesturing the way the pigtailed boy and their queen went. She dropped her arms with a sigh. "Still, that's a shame. I wonder who the lucky girl is?"

"How lucky can she be if he's not going to be marrying her?" Rei put in with a frown. She looked to the senshi which had remained silent for a while. "And what was that about talking to him, anyway? I was under the impression he hadn't really talked to any of us about his past."

"Well, that's not strictly true..." Ami admitted with a slight blush, her eyes going down. She gave a slight chuckle and a weak grin, meeting the other girls' gaze once more. "Back when he first visited, I had lunch with him on the first day. We wound up talking for a couple hours and he told me about his life growing up. From what he told me, this isn't the craziest situation he's ever been in."

"Travelling through time and finding out you've got a daughter and a potential girlfriend who look exactly the same is less crazy than some of the stuff he's been through?" Makoto asked incredulously, her eyes widening. "What could possibly top that?"

"Martial arts duels against dragons, a phoenix, and all sorts of strange styles. Encounters with ghosts and demons. Even a curse, though he said he doesn't mind it anymore," Ami added, tapping her chin. "I guess that's why he didn't ask Queen Serenity to correct it. It'd probably only take a few seconds."

"It's not like he'd be too stupid to ask, though it does make me a little curious about what it is," Minako concluded with a nod, still frowning. "So, is he off-limits now, or only after he meets his wife?"

"Minako!" The senshi of Mars hissed.

"What? It's a legitimate question!" The blond insisted with a grin. A quiet cough turned their attention to a side entrance to the garden.

"Everyone but Uranus and Neptune are either frowning or confused and when Queen Serenity called me on my communicator I couldn't make out what she was saying because she was laughing so damnably hard," Pluto announced with a weary sigh, massaging her temple. "Which way did she take him?"

"Him?" Uranus asked with a raised eyebrow. "He has a name, you know."

"Yes he does: Chaos. Mayhem, or perhaps Confusion. Pick any one you like, they all fit," Pluto growled, narrowing her eyes. She jabbed the Garnet Staff towards Sailor Mercury. "This one can probably give you some details about his life, but I've had the joy of sitting through the highlight reel and let me tell you, what he told her only scratches the surface."

"That way," Mercury supplied helpfully, gesturing to the doorway in question.

The Guardian of Time stalked off, muttering under her breath.

"She needs to relax," Minako noted.

Nobody disagreed with the blond senshi.

oOo

"Enjoy. This is Mercury's finest, you know," Serenity told her pigtailed guest, setting the fire wine in front of him. The poor boy didn't have a clue, if the innocent look on his face was any indication. Then again, he'd previously stayed in her empire for a grand total of four days. "So... What have you been up to since dear Pluto gave you that mirror?"

Ranma chuckled, setting the mirror on the table.

"Oh, just the usual fun. The first juant took me back home. I only missed three years, and I found out that my fiancee had moved on," Ranma noted, trying on a small, sad grin. Idly tapping the mirror with one finger, he continued. "My best friend noticed me wandering around first and took me back to her place to make some food. Then she tells me I couldn't even die in peace. The entire building where my funeral was taking place got destroyed in the melee."

With a dark chuckle, Ranma swalled the bulk of his drink, turning red and coughing as the potent wine hit his throat. He picked up the glass and eyed the dregs in the bottom.

"What the heck is in this stuff?" Ranma demanded hoarsely, setting the glass back down.

"Only the finest from Mercury's vineyards," the monarch said with a broad grin, refilling the boy's glass despite his protests. She arched one eyebrow, silencing his protests. "You wouldn't be rude enough to turn down a queen's hospitality, would you? Besides from the sounds of it, a drink or two might help."

"Didn't seem to help my old man," the martial artist replied, but nevertheless slid the glass a little closer to himself as Serenity took a sip of her own drink. "So, not only did I get back to all that crap, but I got back on the day of my ex-fiancee's wedding. I didn't even know it was going on until she was getting married... And the damndest thing is, I didn't even feel angry. How could I? It'd been three years."

"So you went?" Serenity asked, taking another sip of her drink. She raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her companion's own drink. With a sigh, he took another gulp, coughing momentarily. He wiped a rivulet from the corner of his mouth with a wince.

"Yeah, I went. Combed out my hair, dressed up nicely, and went and wished the happy couple well," Ranma muttered. He flashed the concerned queen a smile. "It did hurt, I guess, but that wasn't the worst part. I didn't even get time to see my mom and old man before the damned mirror shifted me again. Probably about fifteen to twenty years in the future, if I'm any guess."

"Oh, and why would that be your guess?" Serenity asked curiously, draining her own glass before refilling both. The warmth in her stomach was starting to curl up in her chest, suffusing her with a tingly warmth. If she was any judge, her new friend would certainly be feeling a little touched himself.

"Well, after I fought some masked wierdo robbing a jewelry store and beat up some truancy officer, I met my daughter," Ranma said with a small smile, which rapidly faded. His gaze moved away from hers. "Then I found out my best friend's her mom, and we both died a decade before. Kinda killed the joy of meeting my first born, you know?"

The pigtailed boy tossed back the third glass, now quirking his own eyebrow at Serenity's full glass with a grin. She swallowed her refill with a grin, which only broadened at the trepidation in the boy's eyes as she refilled both glasses once more.

"And that was what caused you to come back to me?" Serenity asked quietly, to which the young man nodded. After a long pause, she flashed him a small smile. "Perhaps the mirror's hit you hard enough and you're here for a small reprieve? At least here, now... There's no painful reminders of your past, no startling discoveries to further shock you."

"True," Ranma said with a tentative smile. He picked up his own glass. "What's the saying? Cheers?"

"You always have to have something to which you pledge cheer, Ranma," the queen chided, prompting a pout. Shifting her chair closer to his she raised her own glass, clinking it to his. "Cheers to peace and quiet, then."

"Sounds good to me," the blue-eyed boy admitted, swallowing his drink. The queen drained her own, hiding her smile at the relaxed look on the boy's face. Perfect. He shrugged, his gaze moving to the cieling. "It's just wierd. I expected trouble with all this time travelling stuff, but never this much."

"Hey, this place is simple peace and quiet, right? You can forget about all that trouble here and now," the silver haired woman said with a slight smile, placing a hand on her companion's and squeezing gently. The older teen made no move to pull his hand away, causing the queen to grin.

Then a knock came from the doorway, causing the martial artist to snatch his hand back with a bright blush.

"Yes!" Serenity called with a heavy sigh, leaning back slightly in her own chair as the door opened.

"You called for me, Serenity?" Pluto offered, approaching the table and taking a seat when the silver-eyed monarch nodded towards an empty chair. "I gather you wish to discuss our guest here?"

"For the Guardian of Time, you have remarkably poor timing," Serenity noted with a strained grin, causing Pluto's eyes to widen. The silver haired woman shrugged, adding, "It's not your fault. I did summon you."

"I take it you wish to know what I've seen in the Gates now that our friend here has been to the future?" Pluto prompted, earning a nod. The green-haired woman sighed, red eyes meeting silver. "I've noticed a few gaps and little else, to be honest."

"Gaps?" Ranma asked, quietly shifting in his seat. Serenity noticed that while her eyes had left the table, the mirror had disappeared.

"Ranma, you're perhaps seventeen. Right?" Setsuna asked bluntly, turning her fierce gaze on the pigtailed boy. He nodded with a shrug. "That would explain it. Serenity, until the mirror takes him to a certain point in his own, random timeline, I can't see his effect on events. It's like he won't be travelling through time again."

"Except?" Serenity asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"Except we know that he will. We know that at some point, the mirror's magical charge is going to be drained and refilled by your daughter. By all rights if he wasn't going to be skipping across time, he would have had that happen during his last jaunt," the last earned a surprised look from Ranma, which Pluto acknowledged briefly before turning back to her queen. "Yet he didn't. So we know he won't be staying.

"Anything beyond his birth in ten thousand years is pretty much useless to scry with the Gates, never mind wherever else he might interfere in between now and then. Trying to look past ten thousand years is as accurate as playing darts in a hurricane: I never know where I'm going to end up."

"Is there any way of knowing when this effect will end?" The queen asked, deeply disturbed.

"Oh, whenever the mirror's done with him, we should be able to make some reasonable guesses..." Pluto began, but paused to shoot a dirty look at the young man. "Though if he keeps darting back and forth through time, the only way to be certain is when he's dead and buried. And thanks to that damned mirror, we don't even know when that will be. The gates might start functioning properly in two weeks, or twenty thousand years."

"Wow," Ranma chuckled, pulling the mirror from his waistband and handing it to Setsuna, who cocked a curious eyebrow at him. "Indestructible, remember? Great stress relief."

"Thanks for the offer," the black-clad senshi admitted, pushing the mirror back to the youth with a delicate finger. "However, unlike you, I can actually break it. The one who forged a spell can break it just as easily and I don't think causing more temporal problems would be particularly wise at this point."

"Your loss," Ranma shrugged, tucking the item back behind his shirt. "What now?"

A distant explosion sounded, prompting a dry look from the queen. Seconds later, both people who possessed communicators heard the wail of an alarm from their subspace pockets.

"I guess we answer that, huh," Ranma noted blandly.

oOo

Author's Notes:

Hey Look, I surprised everyone with something for the RanmaXMakoto fans. Mwuhahahahaha!! God, all of the potential fun with time travel is a fantastic toy! I made certain to specify in the first scene WHY Ranma didn't recognize her last time to forestall the people pointing out plot holes... So there.

The subtle flirting going on with Serenity towards Ranma I blame entirely on reading a little too much xxxHolic lately. I'm starting to let Yuuko's flirty habits creep into my characterization of Serenity, which has lead the story towards unplanned twists.

The only difference between Watanuki and Ranma in this case is Watanuki wasn't Yuuko's first crush while Ranma _was _Serenity's. *sobs* My poor, poor outline...

Wow, when I know exactly what I want to write and feel the flow, I crank it out pretty damned fast. Two updates within twenty four hours is a pretty big record, especially given the fact I only had about 400 words of last night's chapter written when I sat down.

Gaming Ikari


	12. Chapter 12

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

oOo

Chapter 12

oOo

Uranus gritted her teeth, fending off the impressive zwiehander levelled at her face with the Space Sword and the sheer force of her will. Her arms trembled, holding the hideously sharp blade inches from ending her life. The short-haired blond shifted her feet, feeling her opponent's balance sway subtlely.

It was enough. With a roar of triumph, the tall girl thrust forward with both hands, throwing the ayashi's arms high in the air and opening his center line. A graceful twist and her lithe blade flicked out, puncturing the demon's heart and ending that threat. She grimly cast her gaze over the battlefield the gardens had become.

The newly raised Senshi were huddling together, making an impressive dent in the enemy numbers but providing them with a focus for their attack. The inexperienced girls would have long since been swarmed under without the efforts of her and Neptune on the flanks, preventing the enemy from surrounding their tight formation.

She and Michiru were the two stout walls flanking a killing gate, the fall of either meaning the entire line would be overrrun. The tall girl couldn't blame the girls: She'd possessed her powers for nearly a decade now, while they'd not yet seen active duty. They lacked training and experience, staying in the battle only through intuitive tactics and sheer dint of will. It was hard to begrudge their faults when they were holding their own against hopeless odds.

Fiendish beings charged towards the doorway they guarded, the only way towards their Queen, and they died. Their corpses would have long since eclipsed the towers surrounding the courtyard, had the demons kept their corporeal form after death. As it was, the entire palace would require a solid week of dusting to rid it of their remains.

If they lived that long. The shining gate on the other end of the garden showed no sign of slacking in the onslaught of demonic foes. As fast as they were killing them, more appeared. They showed no end, and perhaps, there was none. Perhaps this would be the way their world ended, in an unstoppable flood of relentless demons.

Far from where she stood, Haruka saw Michiru stumble on a shattered flagstone as she tried to block an enemy's blow. The brief mistake was enough for the horde to rush the right flank. Two burly demons grabbed the aquamarine-haired girl's legs, raising horrendous axes above their heads as they leered at their fallen opponent.

The tall girl abandoned her position, running with all the strength her planetary bindings granted. Each footstep caused an earthquake, shattering the flagstones underneath. In any other situation, she would have set records for speed and strength as she raced to tackle her lover out of the path of those relentless blades.

The terrible tragedy of her powers meant that even as her magic adapted to the new speed and slowed her perception of time, granting her superhuman reflexes, she knew the horrible truth: All of her impressive power and training weren't going to be good enough. Those axes were moving too fast, closing on her beloved's fragile skin far faster than she was covering the distance that seperated her from salvation.

She sobbed to herself as she strained for more speed. Her attacks were too slow to reach her partner, and only her feet could hope to race against Death's embrace.

She was too slow.

A gnarled battle axe and an improvised tamohawk swang down with finality on Michiru's helpless form. She flinched and closed her eyes, the force and power of the blows bypassing her companion's limbs and splintering the stone underneath with a heart-shaking finality.

"That's no way to treat a lady," a feral voice growled, and the senshi of Uranus dared to open her eyes. Her queen's guest, the young man she'd derided as weak, straddled the woman she loved in a loose kempo stance. Both of the deadly instruments had been sharply deflected, breaking concrete to either side of the bluette and nothing more.

Most telling of all, both of the large youma had abandoned their weapons to cradle the broken hands which had formerly held her partner helpless as they shrunk back from the youth with undisguised pain. The advancing horde stopped, refusing to flood around the dangerous, pigtailed mortal. Some primal instinct warned them that to advance was to die, despite the shallow shroud of mana he appeared not to even acknowledge.

He was fighting with energy that was essentially a refinement of the same energy their ate. Yet he terrified them just as much as her queen. Every sense she clutched with her warrior soul told her the poor bastard was doomed. He'd gotten lucky, happened to intervene at the right moment. For all his luck, he couldn't hope to influence the final outcome of this desperate battle.

Yet her intuition recognized the importance of the other two warriors who'd come to reinforce their faltering lines: Queen Serenity herself bolstered the center of the inexperienced Senshi while Pluto fought along the line Uranus abandoned, dispensing death with a casual smile. Her lover's savior hadn't been chosen by luck, he'd been given the task by Serenity herself.

The fact Michiru was still alive denied the boy's presumed weakness. Neither Setsuna nor Serenity herself would abandon one of their sworn warriors to gain a minor tactical advantage. The boy straddled the insenstiate girl because he was best qualified to protect her... Nothing more and nothing less.

"Kijin Raishu Dan," the blue eyed boy stated coldly. Uranus' eyes widened as his arms switched to a blur, the sort of speed she'd seen when he'd been deflecting her sword thrusts. At her best, she'd exhaust the reserves her bindings made available to her producing a dozen Space Sword Blasters. Sure, after a moment's rest she could duplicate the feat, but... not like this.

A wave of white exploded from the youth's position, dicing weak and strong youma with equal impunity. Where those silvery-white flashes of chi struck, the enemy died. The senshi of Uranus didn't bother trying to count them, shivering at the show of power. Most of unnerving of all was the boy's feral grin.

He wasn't here out of duty or devotion... He was here because this was where battle was. Only a slight change in someone's tone or demeanor would have pitted this young man against them. He lived for battle, visibly so. The fierce joy he clutched to his heart couldn't be disguised as he launched himself into the enemy's hesitating front.

The blond's amazement by that point was not the fact that the enemy lines collapsed as quickly as they did: The amazement was that they bothered to show a token resistance before fleeing in terror, giving the senshi of Neptune enough time to shake off the blow which had lain her flat and regain her feet. An elegant nod to her savior told him she was once again ready to fight.

"Hey Sailor Shorthair! Let's get rid of this portal!" The feral fighter growled, prompting Uranus to meet his eyes. In those churning blue seas she saw no doubt, no hesitation. Only a desperate plea to blindly trust him as he leapt to the top of the shattered statue at the center of the garden.

"My name is not Sailor Shorthair!" The princess of Uranus retorted, alighting next to the arrogant young man on the top half of what had been a statue of the current queen's mother. Even cut in half, it was sixty feet tall. Her gaze briefly took in the desperate fight of her comrades before meeting her unexpected partner's eyes. "What do you need?"

"Swing me in a vertical circle facing the portal," Ranma told her as he handed her a length of rope, prompting a blank look from the veteran warrior. He grinned in response, leaping into the air. "After the first swing, start to pull the rope in! We'll finish this in one blow!"

The plan was madness! What the hell sort of strategy required swinging one of your most important combat assets around in an ever-shrinking circle? She cast a desperate look towards her silver-haired queen, hoping for a puzzled look in turn. The woman merely nodded to the Uranian senshi in between blasting the foes attempting to swarm the center.

Duty warred with common sense, demanding an explanation. After a moment of watching the woman she loved, still alive and still fighting, duty won.

Just in time, too, as the boy had leapt to one side, letting nearly forty feet of rope trail behind him before he snagged it, swinging down as Uranus planted her feet. Muscles groaned as she swung him around the first loop, until she got a feel for the shifting momentum. Her planetary bindings shunted extra magical energy into her limbs to compensate, easing the burden considerably.

"Now, start pulling!" The boy called as he reached the top of the second spin. Uranus complied, grunting with each length of rope she eliminated between her and her ever-faster spinning counterweight. She didn't focus on the subtle way the battle was shifting against her and her friends, refused to pay attention to the wisps of vapour now trailing the martial artist as she swung him in smaller and smaller loops.

There was only her, the increasing speed of her swings, and the strain as she steadily reduced the length of the rope one foot at a time.

Four revolutions. Five. Six. Ever faster, ever smaller. The boy was seperated by her only by ten feet of rope. Was it getting cold?

"Michiru!" Haruka screamed, watching her lover get knocked back by a particularly vicious youma. Only years of military discipline drilled into her subconscious kept her pulling the rope as she'd been instructed, the entirety of her gaze focused on the imperiled senshi as the woman stumbled.

She was unprepared for the fierce wind which kicked up, drawing her gaze for an instant. She found herself looking down the center of a horizontal tornado, one which appeared to start right at the statue and drilled itself into the glowing portal. Queen Serenity and the Inner Senshi were now bouyed by Saturn's Silence Wall, preventing the girls from being sucked into the whirlwind. Pluto had driven the Garnet Staff into the ground, preventing herself from being pulled.

"Go!" Ranma called, and Haruka nodded gratefully to him where he clung to the statue. Sailor Neptune had no magical barrier to hold back the wind, no weapon to plunge into ground and anchor her. She fought the pressure for a moment before the tempest claimed her. "Save your girlfriend!"

Sailor Uranus launched herself from the statue, landing in front of her girlfriend and embracing the girl with one arm, her feet pivoting as the other hand drove her sword point first into the ground. Grateful eyes looked up into hers as the wind roared for moments, before finally dying down. Whatever damage the unnatural tornado had wrought on the other side of the portal was, it appeared, enough to end the dimensional rift.

"You know, you're turning into quite the damsel in distress," Haruka chuckled to the shorter girl, tugging her blade from the paving stones. Eyes widened in indignation. "Needing to be saved twice in one day, dearest? And once by a man, to boot!"

"Sailor Tumbles, Sailor Shorthair! You two wanna stop making calf eyes at one another long enough to help us mop up?" The black-haired martial artist called, a blue sphere of chi blazing by to destroy one of the straggling monsters.

"He is a very annoying young man," Neptune sighed, shooting a dirty look at the back of the boy's head. Uranus chuckled, a World Shaking rocketing right past the boy's flank to vaporize a stealthily approaching demon.

oOo

Hours after the battle, Queen Serenity and Sailor Pluto conferred in one of the smaller chambers off of the main hall. Servants rushed back and forth, bringing reports and news from various mages with a variety of specialities as they investigated the remains of the garden and attempted to discover who, what, when, and how.

Serenity was of the opinion that the why of the attack could wait until the bastard's throat was in her hands. Her attention was currently fixed on the head of her magical department, a balding man with a fringe of snowy white hair on a large head, emphasized by the plain grey and black robes which covered his frail form.

"Your Highness, this attack was impossible," the Archmagus Donan concluded, worriedly rubbing the thick mustache underneath his large nose. Beady eyes darted to the report in front of him as he broke the silver-eyed queen's gaze. "Our wards were intact before the assault and afterwards. Whatever the source of this attack, it bypassed our wards entirely. Something I would have never expected."

"Wonderful," the queen grimaced, scowling as she looked down at her own report. "It says here that you can't get any useful information about the portal from the residual energies in the area. Would you care to clarify that? Even though dimensional magic isn't my strong suit, I would have thought a portal of that size and duration should have left some pretty strong residues you could work from."

The old man chucked at that.

"Unfortunately, highness, the problem is the attack your young friend employed," Donan noted, coughing when he saw the queen's lack of shared humour. He shrugged helplessly. "Demonic magic uses life energy as it's focus, something that boy was throwing around with a great deal of abandon. Figuring out the details of the portal is like trying to read fine calligraphy after a child's written overtop of it. With some study of the boy we might be able to filter his own energy out of our perceptions."

"Majesty, I'll request his presence-" Pluto began, starting to rise from her seat before flopping down with an uncharacteristic lack of grace halfway up. "...next time he comes to pay a visit. That damned mirror of his really seems to have a fantastic sense of timing."

"Mirror?" Donan quieried, one eyebrow rising.

"No concern of yours," Serenity said smoothly, eyes growing stern. "However, it appears you won't have the chance to study Ranma at this time. I still expect progress to be made with whatever you can get from the attack site. Move quickly, Lord Donan."

"As the queen commands," Donan said solemnly, standing from his own seat and exiting the room.

"I take it you sensed our temporaly displaced guest leaving right as you stood?" The silver-eyed monarch asked, meeting her friend's irritated crimson gaze. The older woman chuckled dryly. "Look on the bright side, dear Pluto. At least there's one person around to keep your life interesting."

"Two, if you count meddling overlords with too much magic and not enough common sense," Setsuna retorted with the ghost of a smile. Her shoulders slumped as she looked out one of the high windows in the chamber. "This attack was nasty, Serenity. Very bad. I hate to think what would have happened if he hadn't been here."

"Well, we'll just have to get nasty right back whenever we figure out who did it," the queen replied bluntly, slowly rising and stretching her stiff muscles. "I won't tolerate attacks on my kingdom, and especially not ones staged right in my own gardens.

"We will find whoever did this and make them wish the thought had never crossed their minds."

oOo

Author's Notes:

The fight scene was fun to write... Especially the banter between Uranus, Neptune, and Ranma.

Quick rant in response to the five rude PMs concerning my chapter lengths. I prefer to keep my chapters short for the ease of editing (on my end) and reading (on your end). It's easier to sit down and read a chapter when it's 2,000 to 4,000 words instead of 10,000 to 20,000. Yes, others release much longer chapters. I also release my chapters a _lot_ quicker than they do. Complaints about my output mean little when I've produced a little under 20,000 words in a little over half a month.

If you only want to read updates that are "worth your time", hit my story every third or forth story alert which gets sent to your inbox. A little self-control will do wonders.

Gaming Ikari


	13. Chapter 13

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

oOo

Chapter 13

oOo

Ryouga stumbled as someone latched onto him from behind, sending him face first into the pavement. Another flash an instant later lifted the weight from his back. The Lost Boy stood, brushing the dust off the front of shirt and looked around.

"Where the hell am I now!?"

To no surprise, he had no answer for himself. It would have surprised the fanged boy a little bit to learn that for once, it really was all Ranma's fault.

oOo

Ranma pushed himself up from where he lay on the ground, taking a look around. He wasn't surprised when a fierce, momentary rain kicked up, scattering the street with puddles while shrinking him and giving her breasts. The pigtailed girl sighed as she climbed to her feet, dusting off her white pants.

It was then she noticed her good fortune... The white pants were a thick enough material, much like her old white Chinese-style vest, that being wet just darkened them a bit instead of rendering them transparent. The black shirt, while clingy, wasn't subject to the problems it would have had if it were white. Blue eyes narrowed at this development. Luck wasn't something she was inclined to trust at this moment in her life.

It was night, and she was near a bridal store. At the edge of her vision, she saw a dark shape burst from the store at a dead run. That tuxedo wearing bastard sprinted across the pavement as if the hounds of Hell itself chased him and Ranma ran towards him to intercept. A bright light from the store caught her attention, and Ranma saw her daughter's face being gently cupped by a woman in an elegant wedding dress.

Ranma might have just edged away. Haruka and Michiru had opened up the possibility of strange relationships, and the less he knew about anything like that his daughter was up to, the better. Instead, she felt the evil in the energy the woman was using, the wrongness of the chi she was emitting. Just like the hot energy those demons had used when they'd attacked Serenity's palace.

She closed the distance in an instant, launching herself directly into the narrow gap between the tall girl and her attacker. The space was far to small for Ranma's frame, yet the young girl remained untouched as the redhead occupied the space. The same could not be said for the youma, who stumbled back two steps from the force of the bodycheck. The monstrous bride had enough time to look up as a vicious spinning heel kick caught her in the side of the forehead, tossing her through the air to land with a graceless crash against some mannequins.

"Lady, you picked the wrong girl to mess with," Ranma growled, casting her attention briefly on the dazed young girl behind her. Her eyes remained blank, unable to recognize the events going on around her.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" The youma spat, rising from the wreckage of the display and flicking her hands to reveal long, sharp talons. It grinned, the lips splitting into a too-wide smile. "Some petty human with a bit of martial arts? Why bother interfering when you could have lived?"

"I'd be a crappy father if I didn't save my own daughter from one of you freaks!" Ranma growled, launching herself at her foe. The youma's confusion was enough to allow the petite redhead to strike it in the jaw with a telling left cross, blasting it through the wall with a satisfying crunch.

It wouldn't be getting up any time soon, if Ranma was any judge. She ran back to her daughter, grasping the girl's arms and shaking her in an attempt to break the hypnotic effect holding the tall brunette in thrall.

"Come on, Makochan. I'm here for you," Ranma said, cupping the girl's face with one hand as a deep pit opened in his stomach. She wasn't waking up. Why wasn't she waking up!?

"Whispering words of love to trick them like you have... It's beyond forgiveness!" A strong, light voice called from the doorway. Ranma turned, finding herself facing Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and a blond girl with a strong resemblance Serenity in a fuku. Blond Serenity levelled one finger in the redhead's direction. "In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

Her mind ignored the other two Senshi as they spoke, as her agile imagination helpfully showed her what Serenity would have looked like in a similar getup. Lines were crossed and her mind shut down for a temporary reboot, completely missing the speeches of the other two girls.

"Huh, wha..?" Makoto murmurred, finally waking up. "Dad?"

"I'm here, Mako-chan," Ranma reassured the girl, then sensed movement behind her. She shot a direct look at the girls posing at the front of the store. "Oi, you three! That demon's still alive! Get ready to move!"

Ranma would have been more amused by the confusion on the trio's faces if it hadn't opened them up to the grey-clad man closing behind them, brown hair streaming behind him as he raised one energy-shrouded fist. As it was the short redhead started running towards the trio as a blue aura enveloped her, ducking under a glowing yellow disk and leaping over a blast of flame to land right in front of them.

All three girls flinched back, ready for the worst. The blond in the center helpfully fell onto her ass, clearing a space for Ranma to leap through the group and meet the charge of the dark-haired man. Blue chi met black magic as their fists clashed, an explosion of power blasting them apart. The redhead was prepared for the backlash, while the tall man was not. He tumbled across the ground, eyes widening.

The redhead closed with the prone man, fist crunching through concrete as he disappeared.

"Bastard!" Ranma growled, standing and shaking her fist free of the dust and rubble. She cast a look at her daughter. "Oi, Makoto! You alright?"

"Yeah, I am," the girl said, slowly shaking her head.

"Hey, just who are you?" An angry voice demanded, and the redheaded martial artist turned to shoot the senshi of fire a sour look.

"Seriously lady, the temper thing is getting old. It was old the first time we met, it was old the second time we met, and it's old now. Give it a rest, will ya?" Ranma demanded, ignoring the heated looks directed at her. She cocked one eyebrow at the senshi of Mercury, trying a small grin. "I'm surprised you're caught up in all this. You're usually a lot calmer than Ms. Volcano over there."

"You know me?" The bluette asked in surprise, one gloved hand rising to her mouth, ignoring the indignant cry of "Ms Volcano!?" in the background.

"Yep. The blond chick's new, though," Ranma said, turning to cast a look at the blue-seifuku clad blond. "Unless you've gotten sick of the silver and gone gold, Serenity? No? Didn't think so. Not like you can change your eye color from silver to blue easily."

"None of us have ever met you before!" The darkest-haired senshi hissed, purple eyes meeting Ranma's. "Why the hell do you think you know us?"

"At least you guys mature well, but geez... Does old age make you people weak AND senile?" Ranma muttered, shaking off the thought with a shrug. She picked up her confused daughter carefully and turned back to the senshi. "Look, this has been fun, but Mako-chan here needs rest if she's gonna be at school tomorrow. I'll see you around, I'm sure."

A quick dash brought her out into the street and seconds later, she was well on her way back to Makoto's apartment.

oOo

The three senshi stood alone in the wrecked bridal store, blinking at one another rapidly. Each girl wore a dark look on her face, as if struggling to digest something unpleasant.

"Old age?" Mars finally sputtered, spinning and walking to the door. She was joined shortly by a subdued Moon and Mercury. Both girls met heated purple eyes as she spun back to face them. "Weak and senile!? Who does she think she is!?"

"For some reason she thinks she knows us..." Ami murmured, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Why did she think I was someone called Serenity?" Usagi pondered, looking out the door.

"A mystery for another night. Let's get out of here before the police come and investigate," Mars spat, putting words to action and leaping to the rooftops. Moon and Mercury nodded to one another before seperating, heading towards their own homes.

oOo

Makoto awoke, only vague memories of the previous night wandering hazily at the edge of her memories. She remembered the cute boy from the arcade, an intense feeling of affection which was, somehow, terribly wrong... an affection which was replaced by the genuine deal. Remembering the events of the previous night felt more like waking from a nightmare than anything connected to reality.

Her only clear memory was her father's warm blue eyes, worried as he tucked her into bed and gently kissed her on the forehead.

The brunette climbed out of bed, stretching as she stood. Her muscles were still stiff from the sparring match she'd had with her father the previous day, and she grimly noted that it was only six in the morning: Plenty of time for her father to inflict more training on her fragile form before she had to leave for school.

She opened the door of her bedroom and walked into the living room, noting her father's form sprawled over the well-padded armchair. His back was tightly arched, his face nuzzling into one corner of the chair as he clutched the light blanket to his chin. His bare feet poked out from the bottom of the blanket, flinching from the cold floor. The brunette ducked back into her room for a moment, grabbing her own blanket and spreading it over her father's slumbering form.

She smiled sadly to herself before getting ready for school, wondering what sort of things would happen to the impetuous youth before her to turn him into the mature man she remembered from her childhood. Her father had never been so open with his feelings.

What would stop him from being this open? She still loved the man she remembered from her childhood dearly, but she now wished she could have known the young man before her first. He was nothing like the serious individual she knew now, possessing a an unjaded view of the world she wasn't sure even she possessed.

She shook the thoughts from her mind, changing into a pair of gym shorts and loose t-shirt. Even if her father wasn't available to train her, she could still go for a jog before she made lunch and got ready for school.

oOo

"Excuse me, um, Kino-san?"

The tall girl looked up from her lunch to find herself face to face with the blond she'd saved yesterday, before her father had disappeared right in front of her eyes. Neither food nor attempts to shake him awake had stirred the pigtailed dreamer this morning, leaving Makoto to reluctantly depart for school with many questions unanswered.

The brunette sighed at the searching look in the blue eyes now meeting her own.

"I guess you want to know about the guy from yesterday, huh?" Makoto asked, setting aside the bento box and crossing her legs. She leaned back, blowing unruly bangs from her face with a puff of air, eyes glancing over at the clumsy girl. "So, what would you like to know?"

"Well, um, how did that boy disappear like that?" The girl asked quietly, getting the obvious question out of the way. The green-eyed girl's hesitation only seemed to build on her momentum. "How did he jump over the wall like that? And who is he?"

"Okay, okay..." Makoto said lightly, waving her hands to hush the girl. "Tsukino, right? Well, to answer your questions in reverse: His name is Ranma Saotome. Yes, the one you've heard all those legends about, which answers your second question. And as for the first, it's magic, I guess."

"Wow, Ranma Saotome?" Usagi pondered, rubbing her jaw thoughtfully. "I thought he disappeared years ago! Wasn't he the cause of all that trouble over in Nerima about fifteen years ago?"

"Yep," Makoto said with a fond smile.

"So, how do you know him? Why was he bringing you lunch?" Usagi's face scrunched up in consideration.

"Well, the thing is, he's my father," Makoto admitted, chuckling at the look on the girl's face.

"But he looked so young!" The blond girl objected, to which the brunette smirked.

"Daddy gets that a lot," The martial artist in training giggled, patting the girl on the shoulder and giving her a broad smile. "Don't worry about it. I know, he doesn't look like he's in his thirties. I have to keep my friends away from him so they don't hit on him all the time."

"Okay. Well, um, would you like to join me and Ami-chan for lunch?" Usagi finally asked, shaking her head as if to clear it.

"Sure! I'll even whip up some of my family's specialty."

oOo

Author's Notes:

Yep. Big branching of the storyline right here. Four updates in just over a week week is just crazy, but I just couldn't help myself. You'll probably note that I've been aiming more for Rei's anime characterization than the manga counterpart. I did this solely because she's more fun to write that way. That, and conflict and antagonism make for more interesting storytelling.

Ryouga will have a minor role coming up in the events to come, and the reason the mirror was able to transport him and not Ukyou in the earlier chapter will soon become clear. Besides, it'd be a pretty poor series crossover if the only character I used from one series was the main character, right?

Do not expect this update-every-few-days pace to last. I'm only human, folks. You'll be lucky to see another in the next week or so. I've run out of steam a bit.


	14. Interlude 1: Ryouga

Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble

oOo

Interlude 1: Ryouga

oOo

Ryouga was truly lost.

This was nothing new to the fanged youth. Buildings reached high into the air around him, all alike. The sun was low in the east and if the numerous young people in school uniforms on the streets were any indication, it was rapidly approaching school time. With a small sigh of relief, he noted that at least there were no clouds in the sky.

With no discernible landmarks to guide him, the Lost Boy did what he usually did when faced with such confusion: He shrugged, picked a direction at random and started walking.

The sounds of a commotion drew his attention from a small park, causing the cursed boy to draw closer. A casual leap carried him over the fence which girdled the perimeter, and as he landed Ryouga took note of the disturbance. A short girl flinched from a crowd all alone, her dark hair in a straight, shoulder-length cut. She was perhaps no older than thirteen, and was fighting off several taller boys.

"Get her! Get the freak!"

"Hey, you!" Ryouga snarled, stopping the gang's advance and drawing their attention to him. He was pleased to note that two of the five boys went pale at the sight of him. "Why don't you stop picking on the girl and fight someone your own size!"

"Fine, beat him, then her!" The apparent leader called, and Ryouga snorted as they charged.

Amateurs, each and every one of them. He didn't bother to dodge or block their blows: His durability had, since the Bakusai Tenketsu training, entered the realm of nigh-immunity to damage from anyone but the most powerful martial artists. These punks were nothing. The first two boys threw their shoulders into their punches, both fists connecting at the same time.

Both boys winced at the sharp crack as their knuckles broke, and they fell to each side of the boy in an awkward tumble. The next boy, someone sort of like a martial artist, attempted a spinning kick at Ryouga's chest. This, too, ended in a broken bone, the boy's shin cracking sickly before the boy flopped to the ground writhing in agony. The last two boys, the two who'd paled at the sight of him, abandoned their attack runs to back off warily.

"Even a baby wouldn't have felt those," Ryouga muttered darkly to the howling boys on the ground, ignoring their cries as he moved past them to the girl. Far from looking frightened, she wore a distinct scowl on her face. "Hey miss, are you alright?"

"I was fine until you butted in on my fight!" The girl said grumpily, crossing her arms as she looked up at him. Ryouga's surprised look prompted her to pout, adding, "How am I supposed to get any good training if someone else is beating up the guys who want to fight me? Those jerks won't even be able to come at me for weeks now!"

"Well, I'm sorry miss!" Ryouga stammered blushing. "Uh, what's your name?"

"My name is Makoto Kino!" The girl informed him, pointing one finger in his direction. "And for beating up my opponents on me, you get to fight me instead!"

Ryouga gulped as the girl slipped into a _very_ competent kempo stance. Today was just not his day.

oOo

"You fight pretty well for someone your age," the cute fanged boy finally noted after she'd tried a few passes. While she had only tagged him a couple times and both times she was certain she'd hurt her hands more than she'd hurt him, the praise ignited a warm glow in the young girl's belly.

After their short sparring match, where the boy had refused to fight back, Makoto had dragged the fanged boy to a nearby cafe so she could ferret out some of his martial arts techniques. He was obviously very shy, so she was certain she could charm him a bit and learn what she wanted.

"Well, I practice a bit," Makoto admitted with a giggle, chuckling to herself at the way the boy's face brightened. He was easily a few years older than her, yet the way he was stammering...

"A bit, huh?" The boy muttered, eyes not meeting hers.

"Well, more than a bit," Makoto acknowledged, taking a sip of her cafe-au-lait. She raised the cup and used it to gesture at the older teenager. "You, on the other hand... Where did you learn to fight like that? I couldn't even touch you except for those two times, and the times I did hit you it felt like I was hitting steel! What's your secret?"

"No secret," Ryouga said with a shy smile, avoiding the girl's look. "I just wander from place to place, learning martial arts as I go."

"That's sooo cool!" Makoto chirped, balancing her chin on her hands, elbows gently leaning on the table. She grinned broadly at the bright-faced young man, who stammered wordlessly. He was all hers. Cute, a little bit (but not too much) older, and a fighter straight out of her father's stories from when she was a child.

He was perfect.

"I guess," the boy admitted, taking a sip of his green tea.

"So do you have any rivals? Anyone who fights as well as you do?" The brunette asked, leaning forward. She wished she'd started growing... Without any chest to speak of, the full effect of the gesture was lost on the youth in front of her. Some day she'd have something to speak of, though. She was sure of it.

"I've got a couple people like that," Ryouga admitted with a dark look, shaking his head. "It's sort of confusing. I wouldn't call either of them my enemies, but they're not exactly my friends, either. We've fought side by side almost as much as we've fought against one another, so..."

"Sounds intense," Makoto admitted, scooting her chair in a bit more to admire the chocolate brown eyes of the boy across from her. She took another sip of her coffee, grinning at the look on the boy's face. Noting he'd finished his tea, she stood and grabbed his hand. "Come on! You look far too serious for someone out having fun!"

"Wha?" The boy demanded, surprised as Makoto physically dragged him to his feet. "Wait, where are we going?"

"You're coming with me to the mall! I've got some dresses I'd like to try on and I need an opinion on them! Don't just stand there, come on! Let's go!" Makoto ignored his sputtered protests and dragged him from the shop, turning to flash him a disarming grin. "Don't worry, after that we'll go see the new Jet Li movie! We'll make a date of it!"

"Date?" The boy yelped, causing Makoto to turn and flash him anothor smile.

"Don't worry about it! I know you should consider yourself lucky to be seen with a girl as cute as me, but don't worry about it! I like you anyway!" The short brunette chirped, enjoying the bright red blush that spread across the boy's face.

"Wait, miss, I'm-" He began, only to stop as Makoto spun and planted an index finger across his lips.

"Shush! We're going to have fun, and that's final. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?" She enunciated each of the last with the sort of finality her mother had used to keep her father in line. It succeeded on the boy in front of her just as well as it had in the past.

"To the mall, then," Ryouga finally concluded with a weak shrug.

oOo

Ryouga was in Hell. Or he was going to wind up there, anyway.

He'd thought Ranma had forced him to see it, before. He'd thought being forced to wander the Earth in a hunt for that bastard had been bad enough. He'd assumed that the curse was the worst sort of torture imaginable. He'd assumed wrong.

"What do you think of this one?" The young girl asked, twirling in a bright yellow sun dress. Ryouga smacked his face. "No? You're right, green would probably suit my skin and hair better, wouldn't it? I'll be right back!"

The problem was not necessarily her attention. The problem was her age: She was at that rather unique time in a person's life when a child begins to grow into their adulthood. They start to want adult things, act like adults, and in general be much more mature individuals.

Things like getting a crush on seventeen year old boys were natural for girls her age. Natural, and of course, a huge pain in the ass for one Ryouga Hibiki.

He could admit that in a few years, the girl would be very cute. She was also a lot of fun to hang out with: She could talk about martial arts with the sort of competence and experience very few people could accomplish, making her an interesting partner for conversation. That didn't change the fact that he couldn't date her. Not only was sweet Akari waiting for him, she was so young! He'd have to kick his own ass for doing it, let alone what her father would try to do to him!

As she disappeared into the changing booth, he considered leaving the store. Not that he could. Upon arriving in the store, she'd flashed him a wounded-puppy look and said that of course, a strong, noble person like him wouldn't possibly just leave an innocent, helpless girl like her all alone. She hadn't let up until he'd promised not to leave.

Innocent? Maybe. Helpless? Hell no. When she'd sparred with him briefly, she'd managed to tag him in the jaw with nearly as much strength as Akane packed into her punches. The muggers and hoodlums of Tokyo needed to fear _her_, not the other way around.

She emerged, and Ryouga smiled for a second. She was right, the green dress did look a lot better on her. He promptly smacked himself for thinking that thought, causing the girl to chuckle and set the dress aside for purchase.

Then she started trying on bathing suits.

Yes, Ryouga reflected, he was indeed in a new form of Hell.

Somehow, some way, he knew this was all Ranma's fault.

oOo

The sweet boy had blushed furiously the entire movie, Makoto noted with a triumphant grin. It might have had something to do with her seizing his hand and slinging his arm across her shoulders, but that was just another point in her favour. He'd struggled briefly before giving up, obviously concluding that Makoto's grip was not light by any stretch of the imagination.

After the film ended, he'd even offered to walk her home!

They walked through Minato Ward's streets in a companionable silence, the short brunette not yet having let go of his hand. He'd grown somewhat comfortable with her grasp by this point. All too soon, they arrived at her apartment.

She let go of his hand for just a moment, turning to unlock the front door. Maybe she could invite him up?

She turned back as a flash of bright light reflected off the glass of the door. Some man was clinging to her boyfriend before both disappeared in another flash of light, giving the bandanna-clad young man just enough time to flash her a confused look.

Makoto stood stock still for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. It made no sense whatsoever. Her new boyfriend had just been magically whisked away. It wasn't fair.

Then again, when had life ever been fair to her?

oOo

Ryouga stared across the open field, where his pigtailed rival had tumbled to a stop. One minute he was about to try to let some poor young girl with a crush down gently, the next this bastard had come and broken her heart by taking him away from her right in front of her very eyes?

Ryouga saw red.

"Ranma, for breaking that poor girl's heart, prepare to die!" The words were comforting.

So were the fists they exchanged.

It had been a while since Ryouga had had any stress relief.

It probably would have interested Ryouga to know that the poor girl in question happened to be watching at that very moment.

Just like he was, she was very confused about the entire situation. Her green eyes narrowed as she looked at the other fighter, the confusion clearing up for her far faster than it would clear up for the brown-eyed boy fighting her father.

oOo

Author's Notes:

The fake out there was deliberate, I assure you. I wanted to play with the "Character X saves Hotaru from bullies" cliché and having the victim be Makoto was a little more original, I felt.

I know at least one person really didn't want Makoto's old boyfriend to be Ryouga, but... well... This is a comedy-themed action/adventure. Ranma having to deal with Ryouga as his little girl's heart-breaking ex-boyfriend? Yeah, tell me you don't want to see that.

Anyhoo, apologies for the delay. I've been concentrating on a few other stories. Interestingly, they're all Ranma crossovers with other series. There's a Black Lagoon crossover called Forcibly United (a reworking of A Duet of Fists to not suck), a Tenchi Muyo GXP/El Hazard crossover called Galaxy Police Cadet Scramble and a crossover with The Last Vampire called Echoes of the Past. The first two are comedy-driven like this story, though the third is more of a throwback to my serious, LH&R days.

This is back on the docket, however. My creative batteries are recharged, so to speak.

-Gaming Ikari


End file.
